Precious Sky
by Fallen Crest
Summary: AU. Giotto is the tenth boss of the Vongola. With a target on his back, Tsuna grows stronger in secret but with a new Famiglia on the rise, times grow desperate everywhere and Tsuna's own Famiglia may be just what the mafia needs, but how can he help when his brother is so desperate to keep him from helping? But in this world, over protectiveness has dire consequences for all.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

**Precious Sky**

**Chapter 1**

His brother thought that he was oblivious to everything that happened around home, but he wasn't. He may have only been seven when the man who was going to tutor his big brother showed up, but that didn't mean he didn't notice all the oddness that came with him. First of all, there were all the gunshots, screams, explosions, and crazy training that his dear older brother was going through. He noticed it all. From the stress his brother and his friends went through when they snuck out every night for a week and came back injured. He remembered that time. It was only a year after that man appeared.

He really wanted to know what was going on. Nothing like all this craziness ever happened before that man, Reborn, showed up to tutor his brother, Giotto. That, itself, confused him. His brother was smart and got really good grades so why did he need a tutor?

But he wasn't complaining much. The man helped him with his studies sometimes, though at first, Giotto was freaked out when his little brother asked for help, but Reborn completely ignored the worry and started helping him. Giotto was amazed to see Reborn actually teaching him and not using explosives and his gun to get him to learn.

Because of that, Tsuna learned he could trust Reborn, which is why he found himself staring at Reborn at lunch one day. He was now nine years old and enjoying a lunch with his very, very crazy family. Giotto was cheerfully talking to his friends, G., Asari, Knuckle, Lampo, Daemon, Daemon's girlfriend, Elena, and Dino, who moved in a year ago as he was also being tutored by Reborn. The last of his friends, Alaude, wasn't around because he preferred solitary. His mother, Nana, was sitting to the left of Tsuna, while Reborn sat across from him.

Reborn stared back at the little boy's curious brown eyes with a neutral look. Tsuna was making no attempt to hide his curiosity. For the past few days he found the boy staring at him with curiosity, as if he wanted to know something.

When lunch was finished, Giotto and his friends went to his room so they could do homework. Reborn, instead of finding another sadistic way to torture his students, followed Tsuna to the backyard. The little brown haired boy could sense the tutor following him so he turned to face him with a curious look. "What is it, Reborn-san?"

The sadistic tutor looked down at the small boy with his dark eyes. He wore a black suit with a black fedora which had a yellow stripe going around it. There were curly sideburns at the side of his face that a lot of women loved. "What do you want, Tsuna? You've been staring at me for the past few days."

Tsuna's big brown eyes stared at the man for a moment as if he was debating whether or not to ask what he wanted to know. But, in the end, his curiosity was much too high. "Reborn-san, why is it that you came here?"

Reborn raised a brow. "You know why I am here. I am your brother's tutor."

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Tsuna argued, frowning at the man. "Ever since you've come here, it's been completely crazy. Nii-san is always off getting into fights and he made a lot of new friends who are now always around. You always carry a gun and set explosives off. Asari-nii carries a sword around. G-nii had a gun too, but I've also seen him using a bow made of bone structure. Dino-nii even uses a whip when he fights! Then there was that time a year after you showed up where Gio-nii and his friends were sneaking around every night for a week and they were always injured. Something is going on."

Reborn smirked as he stared down at the boy. "You are more observant than you let on."

Tsuna didn't reply. He just kept staring at Reborn, waiting for an answer to his inquiries. "So?" He prompted.

"I am a hitman."

"Huh?" Tsuna asked dumbly. He certainly wasn't expecting an answer like that, even if he wasn't sure what it was. "What's a hitman?"

"It is someone who is hired to kill someone else." Reborn explained.

The browned haired boy blinked and blinked again as he stared at the hitman in front of him. Hired to kill someone? Despite only being nine, Tsuna did understand what killing was and how it meant that a person was dead and never coming back. What he couldn't understand is why anyone would want a job like that? Killing people was wrong and hurt all of their loved ones. Only a heartless person could possibly live a life that was spent killing other people.

Upon noticing the distressed look that Tsuna was wearing, Reborn nodded his head as if he expected this. "You don't like my occupation? Then you do not want to learn anymore." Reborn decided and turned to go back in the house.

"Wait!" Tsuna called before Reborn could take two steps. "Why is a hitman here training Gio-nii and Dino-nii?"

Reborn turned to the boy with a frown. "If you can't handle the fact that I am a hitman, it is best you don't know why I am training them."

"I don't understand." Tsuna said quietly, but there was a fire of determination in his eyes. "I can't understand why you would want to spend your life killing people. But, even though I'll probably never understand or like it, I want to know what is going on. I'm tired of nii-san telling me that I don't need to know and that it is dangerous. I want to know what is going on. I'm tired of him trying to make all the decisions for me. I don't need him to baby me. Tell me so I can at least attempt to understand this."

Reborn, to say the least, was surprised by this. Tsuna, in the three years that he's known him, was rather quiet and didn't like to talk much. He silently watched his brothers and friends have fun and train, but never went out and had his own fun. It wasn't hard to realize that he didn't have friends of his own which gave the boy a lot of time to observe and think about his brother and tutor. "If I tell you the rest, Tsuna, there is no turning back. If you know, you will be dragged even farther into this world. Because your father and brother are involved in it, you are unknowingly involved. By telling you, you are even farther in then anyone wanted for you."

Tsuna closed his eyes and took a shuddering breathe. He could do this. He had to do this. When he opened his eyes again, there was a calmness now filled in them that reminded Reborn of when he saw Giotto in his Hyper Dying Will mode. "Tell me. If I'm already involved because of Giotto," He purposely avoided mentioning his dad seeing as he never even met the man once in his life. "Then I want to know. Isn't it better to know what he and I are involved in? If I don't know what is going on, that makes it even more dangerous."

"A wise answer." Reborn said, but he wasn't surprised. While it was his duty to train Giotto and Dino, he also spent time with the little brother and helped him with his schoolwork, but not just that. He also spent time educating him a bit about the real world, philosophy, and a bit other stuff because of the world that this family was involved in. "Do you know what the mafia is?"

'_Mafia?' _Tsuna shook his head.

*Giotto's room*

"Damn, it's stuffy in here." G. complained.

"Open the window then." Giotto told him without looking up from his math book.

G. leaned back on his heads and glanced at Knuckle. "Yo, Knuckle, you're closer to the window. Open it, will you?"

Knuckle nodded his head and got up. As he was lifting the window up, he looked down in the backyard and was surprised to see Tsuna staring at Reborn with a deadly calm expression on his face. _'Wonder what that is about. He looks just like Giotto with that face.'_ He thought with a grin.

"What are you looking at?" Elena asked curiously, pushing a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear.

Blinking, Knuckle looked away and grinned. "Just Tsuna and Reborn. They are talking down there."

"What?" Giotto said sharply, looking up from his book with narrowed eyes.

"Relax, Giotto. I'm sure it's nothing. Tsuna talks to Reborn often." Asari said calmly.

"Nufufufu, maybe little Tsunayoshi is finally working on his curiosity." Daemon suggested lightly, causing people to give him scowls or confused looks.

Giotto glared at him. "Curiosity?"

"You didn't notice?" Daemon asked, leaning forward slightly to get to closer to his boss. "For the past few days, your little brother has been staring at Reborn with a curious gleam in his eyes. He wants information of some sort."

"What type of information?" The sixteen year old boss demanded.

Daemon shrugged and sat back down, throwing an arm over his girlfriend's shoulder. "Who knows? You've ordered me not to look into your precious little brother's mind."

"ARGh!" Giotto screamed. He jumped to his feet and raced out of his room.

Dino blinked as he watched his brother-in-training disappear from the room. "Did you have to tell him that? I don't think little Tsuna is going to realize anything is going on."

"Are you sure about that?" Lampo asked in a bored tone from where he was leaning on the window ledge to watch Tsuna and Reborn.

Dino paled as he stared at Lampo. "And if Tsuna asked….."

"Reborn would no doubt tell him." Daemon finished amused.

"Shit." Dino muttered and followed Giotto to the backyard.

"This should be interesting." Daemon decided and followed the two with Elena at his side. Soon, all the others followed, curious and worried.

The moment Giotto reached the backyard, he was screaming, "REBORN!"

The hitman shot an irritated look at the blond teen.

Giotto skidded to a halt, glancing from Reborn to Tsuna with a frown. "What did you tell him?" He demanded.

Reborn frowned and lifted his hand up to his hat. Leon, his green chameleon, wrapped around his hand and shifted into his customary gun. He pointed it at Giotto, but didn't shoot, as Tsuna, grinning, said, "That is so cool, Reborn-san. Where did you get a shape shifting chameleon?"

"That is a secret."

Giotto looked at his brother with a disbelieving frown. "He is pointing a gun at me and you think it's cool."

Tsuna blinked at him. "But he's been firing guns and causing explosions since he's arrived here three years ago, Gio-nii, and you're still alive."

Sighing, Giotto turned back to Reborn as his friends and fellow boss-in-training arrived. "What did you tell him?"

"Why not ask him?"

"What do you know, Tsuna?" Dino asked kindly, kneeling next to the boy he considered a little brother.

"You're and Gio-nii are in training to become mafia bosses. Gio-nii will be the tenth boss of the biggest mafia family in the world, Vongola, and you will be the tenth boss of the Chiavarone. And those strange rings that Gio-nii and the others wear were won in the Ring Conflict when Xanxus, the adopted son of the ninth, wanted to be the tenth. G-nii, Asari-nii, Lampo-nii, Daemon-nii, Alaude-nii, and Knuckle-nii are all of Giotto's guardians which is why they always carries weapons around." Tsuna explained, though he didn't look or sound happy about knowing all of this. It was a lot more than what he was expecting, but he didn't regret asking Reborn to tell him. "I also know that in the Vongola, the leader is called the Sky and his six guardians are elements that surround the Sky: Storm, Rain, Lightning, Sun, Mist, and Cloud. I know the meaning of each of them."

With each word that Tsuna said, Dino and Giotto got paler and paler. Tsuna wasn't supposed to know any of this so he would stay safe. They had told Reborn that hundreds of times that he wasn't to tell Tsuna anything because it would put him in a lot of danger.

"Great, now he knows." Giotto said angrily, glaring at Reborn. "Do you have any idea of how much more dangerous this is for him? Why the hell did you tell him?"

"Gio-nii," Tsuna said angrily, grabbing his brother's arm to get his attention. "Stop it. I'm the one who demanded to know. Reborn-san–"

"I gave him multiple chances to escape hearing this. He chose to get the information instead." Reborn finished for the child. "You can't keep him in the dark forever."

"Well, that's just great." Giotto said sarcastically. "He had no idea of what he was asking to get. The target on his back just grew because of you!"

Reborn raised a brow. "Then protect him. Protect him from your enemies."

**A/N: Please Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! **

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

**Precious Sky**

**Chapter 2**

Tsuna ducked into an alley and ran down it. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure it was clear or if he was still being followed. When he didn't see anyone, he sighed in relief, but didn't stop running. He wasn't going to give them the chance to catch up to him.

At the end of the alley, Tsuna turned to the left and continued to run. He ran faster and faster. He has never run this fast before so he could feel the strong pull in his muscles with each step he took. Maybe he should have gotten lessons from someone to train him so he could run this fast without the pain of running or the fact that it tired him out greatly.

His breathe was coming out in heavy gasps by now. He looked over his shoulder again to see if they had caught up to him yet when it was the front of him he should have been more worried about. Because the moment he got distracted, he was at a corner and that was when he met another body that sent him flying back into the pavement. At the same time, he heard the clatter of something hitting the ground.

"Ow." Tsuna muttered, rubbing his behind and glancing up to see who he hit. He really hoped it wasn't a bully. Though, when the other boy started to laugh, he realized there was no way it was a bully. The boy in front of him had slightly spiky hair and very kind brown eyes. There was a baseball bat sitting next to him.

"Hahaha, I'm sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention." The boy replied cheerfully.

Tsuna smiled at him. "I should apologize as well. I wasn't paying attention either."

"Then it's no problem." He said, smiling as he stood up and grabbed his bat. He held a hand out to Tsuna to help him up. "By the way, I'm Yamamoto–"

"Takeshi." Tsuna finished. "I know. We go to the same school. In fact, we're in the same class."

Yamamoto blinked and blushed a bit. "We are? I never noticed."

Tsuna shrugged. "No worries. You're popular, I'm not. You talk to others; I silently observe everyone and everything. It's no surprise you don't notice me."

"So what's your name?" Yamamoto asked.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, but you can call me Tsuna. In fact, I'd prefer it if you call me that." Tsuna told him.

"Alrighty, Tsuna, so why are you running as if trying to escape something?" Yamamoto asked amused.

Chuckling slightly, Tsuna scratched the back of his head. "Well, my brothers are being annoying. They keep insisting I'm going to be kidnapped the moment they take their eyes off me so I'm escaping from their protective grasp."

"Sounds intriguing." Takeshi said with a chuckle. "Can I play your little game?"

Tsuna blinked. Since when was he playing a game? "I'm not sure if you want to get involved."

Disappointment flashed in Yamamoto's eyes, but it disappeared so quickly that it was difficult to notice at first. In fact, most people would have missed, but since Tsuna was already so observant, he noticed it immediately. He also noticed the fake smile that he plastered on his face. "I guess if you want to, you can come with me, though I don't know where I'm going."

"A friend's house?" Yamamoto suggested, grinning for real now.

Tsuna rubbed his head sheepishly. "Um, I don't have any friends."

Yamamoto blinked. "Seriously? Why not? You seem nice, just a bit quiet."

"Because I spend more time being an observer than joining in." Tsuna explained quietly.

"Then we'll hide at my place. Since your brothers don't know me, they won't find you there." Yamamoto decided and snatched Tsuna's small wrist and dragged him along.

Tsuna blinked, but smiled slightly. "Thank you, Yamamoto-kun."

As they were walking, or more like Yamamoto walking and Tsuna being dragged along, the latter kept staring at the slightly taller boy. He couldn't get over the fact that he saw that fake smile on the boy. He remembered him from class. He was always surrounded by friends so why did Tsuna always feel that the smiles and laughs he saw from the boy felt fake? It wasn't right. Someone as nice as Yamamoto shouldn't be giving such fake smiles.

It came as a slight surprise to Tsuna when Yamamoto stopped in front of a sushi shop. Noticing the confused look, the black haired boy smiled. "This is the shop my dad owns. We live above it."

"Ah, okay." Tsuna said.

Yamamoto and Tsuna entered the restaurant, slipped their shoes off and slippers on before heading over to the bar counter. "Yo, dad."

"Hello, Takeshi." Yamamoto's dad's eyes paused on the brown haired boy with his son. "Ah, greetings, young one. I am Yamamoto Tsuyoshi."

"Sawada Tsunayoshi." Tsuna gave the older gentleman a bow. "It is nice to meet you, Yamamoto-san."

"Dad, Tsuna and I are playing a game. We're going upstairs, kay?" Yamamoto asked

As he got the nod saying it was okay, Yamamoto was dragging Tsuna up the stairs that were at the back of the shop. They reached the top of the stairs and went down the hallway until they reached a room that overlooked the street below. The room had a bed in the corner with the window next to it. Opposite of the bed was a t.v. with a game system hooked up to it and a few video games lying around it. Tsuna noticed a couple fighting games and baseball games. There was a dresser, a closet, and some baseball gear lying around on the blue carpet.

While Tsuna sat gingerly on the floor, Yamamoto moved over to the window and looked down at the street. "How many brothers do you have?"

"Oh, I only have one, but all of my brother's friends are like brothers to me, except Elena. She is like a sister to me." Tsuna explained. "But she isn't chasing me all over the place and saying I need protected."

Yamamoto nodded and sat on the floor with his back to the window. "Protected from what though?"

Tsuna shrugged. "Who knows? All I know is that I can only take so much of this. It's been going on for three weeks. I used to be able to take as long as I want to get home from school, but now, I always have one of my brothers waiting for me after school to drag me home. I can never stop at the park or stop to get ice cream now cause of them."

Yamamoto gave him a small smile. That did sound like a lot of fun. It would be great to be able to go get ice cream with a friend after school or even go to a park.

When he noticed the sadness appear and disappear in their light brown eyes again, Tsuna frowned and moved so he was sitting in front of the boy. He waited until Yamamoto was looking at him in confusion. "Yamamoto-kun, why are you so fake?" He asked gently and calmly.

The taller boy blinked in shock. "What?"

Tsuna smiled, but it wasn't a cheerful smile. It was a grim, determined smile. "You are always around friends and classmates, but you are never happy. You are always putting on a fake smile and I always see sadness flash in your eyes. Why? What is wrong?"

"If you're such a great observer, then I shouldn't have to tell you." Yamamoto said bitterly, no longer putting up his act now that Tsuna had seen right through it.

"I have an idea, but I want you to tell me." Tsuna said.

"Why? Why should I tell you when you already know the problem?" Yamamoto snapped.

Tsuna closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, there was a coolness in them and they seemed to have a tint of orange in them now. "I'm not one hundred percent sure and plus, I think you need to say it."

Anger flashed in Yamamoto's eyes. "Say it?" He growled, leaning closer to Tsuna to grab him by the shoulders. "Say what?" His grip tightened on Tsuna's shoulder to a bruising grip. "Say that all my classmates only like me because I'm popular and good at baseball. Say that my teammates only like me because I play a good game. Say that they are only my friends until I can no longer play a good game. Say that my life sucks! There is nothing true in it. It is all fake and no one notices because they don't care. I bet I could kill myself and no one would truly care that I was gone."

By the time he was finished, Yamamoto's voice was hoarse as he was yelling and his hold on Tsuna weakened so much that Tsuna could pull himself free, but chose not to. Instead, he grabbed Yamamoto's wrist in his small hands. "Yamamoto-kun, don't say that. There are people who would miss you if you were gone. Don't give up so easily. I'm sure you can find people who would want to be your friends and not for you skills in a sport. And those friends are the only ones who truly matter. Then there is your dad. He wouldn't want you to kill yourself. You are his son. He loves you a lot."

To Tsuna's surprise, Yamamoto started laughing. He was laughing so hard that he fell forward and buried his face in Tsuna's shoulder. His whole body was shaking with his laughter. "O-one person, Tsuna. Name one person who would be my friend if not for popularity or because of my skills in baseball."

"Me." Tsuna said quietly without an ounce of hesitation. "I'll be your friend."

The upset, crazy laughter stopped and Yamamoto pushed off of Tsuna to stare at him surprised. "What?"

Tsuna rolled his eyes, but with a fond smile. "Are you deaf or something? I'll be your friend, though I'm not sure how to be friends since I never had any before."

"Hahaha, and I never had a true friend, Tsuna. We'll learn together." Yamamoto said, laughing loudly.

Tsuna chuckled a bit and moved back to his sit in front of the bed. "Yama–"

"Takeshi." Yamamoto interrupted, grinning. "If I can call you be your first name, then you can call me by mine."

Smiling brightly, Tsuna nodded. "Alright, Takeshi-kun."

Yamamoto shook his head. "Nope. No honorifics, Tsuna. Just Takeshi. Unless you want to call me Takeshi-sama and make me your leader." He said teasingly when it looked like Tsuna was going to protest.

"I think not. If anyone shall be leader, it shall be me, Takeshi!" Tsuna argued mockingly, grinning at his first friend.

Takeshi stood up and bowed to Tsuna. "Of course. I am deeply sorry for undermining you, boss."

When Tsuna's and Takeshi's eyes met, they both burst out laughing. "Boss!" Tsuna cried, grabbing his sides as he laughed so much. "That's a good one. Neither of us will ever be a boss."

Takeshi agreed, but didn't voice it out loud. He was still busy staring at Tsuna's eyes. Earlier, they were tinted orange, but now, there wasn't a trace of orange in them anywhere. Had he only imagined the orange in them?

"Something wrong, Takeshi?" Tsuna asked worriedly when he saw Takeshi staring at him.

Takeshi shook his head and smiled. "Nothing, Tsuna. I'm hungry. Do you want to try the sushi here? You'll love it."

"Sure, but I'm not sure I have enough money to–"

"My dad owns the shop, Tsuna. You don't have to pay today." Takeshi interrupted.

"I couldn't possibly–"

Takeshi didn't stay to listen. He ran out of the room and down to the shop below. He heard Tsuna shouting at his back to wait, but he refused to listen.

"Hey Dad," Takeshi said, skidding to a halt in front of the bar. He looked around to see it was pretty empty in the shop. He wasn't surprised. It was getting late and was almost time for the shop to close. "Can Tsuna and I have some sushi, Dad?"

Tsuyoshi blinked when he saw the happiness shining in his son's eyes. It's been a long time since he had truly seen his son this happy for real. "What has got you so happy?"

Takeshi grabbed Tsuna by the neck and pulled him closer to him. "Tsuna and I are best friends now, Dad."

"Is that so? Then I guess we should celebrate. Sushi on the house for you two." Tsuyoshi said, smiling at the boys.

"Oh, I couldn't–" Tsuna began to protest but was waved off by Takeshi's dad.

"See? I told you it would be fine. Now, I'll be right back." Takeshi said, grinning as he walked off to do something.

Tsuna watched him go before turning back to his friend's dad and sitting at the counter. He watched as Tsuyoshi expertly cut up the fish.

"I hope you stay his friend."

Blinking, Tsuna looked away from Tsuyoshi's hands and to the man's face. "Huh? Why wouldn't I? Takeshi is real nice and funny. Even though today is the first day we spoke, I have a feeling we'll be friends for a long, long time."

Tsuyoshi's smile grew even bigger, but he didn't reply to Tsuna, who just shrugged and went back to watching the expert hands make the sushi. _'Thank you, Tsuna, for saving my son from himself.' _

Loud laughter came from Takeshi. He wiped a tear from his eye, staring at Tsuna in amazement. After his dad had filled them with all the sushi they could eat, he started cleaning up and closing the shop while the two boys talked to get to know each other better. They both offered to help him, but he insisted the guest didn't help and that Takeshi entertained him. "Are you serious?"

"Would I lie about something like that?" Tsuna asked with a raised brow, smirking.

"It's just so hard to imagine a home tutor using explosives whenever you got an answer wrong. I feel sorry for your brother." Takeshi said.

Tsuna shrugged. "It's a good thing he's smart and doesn't get many wrong or we would be out of a house."

Takeshi chuckled. "Does he tutor you?"

"Only when I ask for help and he doesn't use any deadly means when he's helping me." Tsuna said thoughtfully. "I think it's cause of Giotto, but I can't be sure since Reborn-san doesn't take orders from anyone."

"Sounds like a scary person." Takeshi said, still grinning.

"Oh yes, you look real scared, Takeshi." Tsuna retorted, eyes shining with mischief.

"What are the chances that I will ever meet this crazy person?" Takeshi quipped.

Tsuna nodded his head in mock seriousness. "Good point, oh wise one."

A chuckle brought the two boys out of their mocking conversation and they turned to see Takeshi's dad had come back. He was drying his hands on a towel, while smiling at them. "Sorry to interrupt, but it is getting late. Don't you think your family might be worried about you being out so late, Tsuna?"

Blinking, Tsuna looked up at the clock to see that it was getting late as it was nearing nine o'clock. He didn't even realize so much time had passed. Perhaps it was because he was having so much fun with Takeshi. "I guess I should head home. I did run off on my brothers earlier."

Takeshi chuckled. "Giotto and Dino are probably freaking out with worry by now." His eyes lit up with mischief. "You're going to get it." He said in sing-song.

Scowling, Tsuna flicked his friend in the forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, kay?"

"You sure you don't want me to walk you home?" Takeshi asked worriedly. He recalled Tsuna mentioning earlier how his brothers were paranoid about him getting kidnapped so it worried him to let Tsuna walk home alone.

"Don't worry. I don't actually live far from here." Tsuna replied, smiling happily. He turned to Tsuyoshi and bowed. "Thank you for the meal and hospitality. Are you sure you don't want me to pay?"

"It is no trouble at all, Tsuna." Tsuyoshi replied kindly.

"If you're sure…." Tsuna trailed off, allowing Tsuyoshi to nod once again. "Then I'll be going."

It was a quiet walk home for Tsuna. Having lived in this neighborhood his whole life, he knew it like the back of his hand. Even so, it was still difficult to walk around in the dark so it was a good thing the street lamps were on.

Everything was completely peaceful. There were times when he was younger and Giotto was going off with his friends where he realized something was incredibly wrong. He didn't know why he knew that. He just did. It wasn't until he told Giotto and Dino about it that he was told. Apparently it was something called Hyper Intuition they had in their family. Apparently it ran in his blood so it only made sense that he and Giotto both had it.

So since he felt completely calm, he could only assume that everything was safe and he would be safe on his walk home. With that thought, he was able to enjoy his walk home.

It wasn't until he was outside his house that his intuition started going wild. The moment he entered that house, chaos was going to start.

Groaning, Tsuna approached the front door. It was best to just get this out of the way, instead of prolonging it. That would just make the whole situation a lot worse. He quietly opened the door, walked in, and quietly closed it. He removed his shoes and stepped farther into the house. And that was when he was assaulted.

"TSUNA!"

The nine year old back stepped when he saw his two blonde hair brothers staring at him with frowns. "Gio-nii, Dino-nii." He greeted, smiling faintly. "I'm home?"

"Where have you been? Do you have any idea of how worried we were?" Dino scolded.

"You gave Asari a heart attack when you ran off like that and he couldn't find you. And then you don't show up until hours later. You had everyone extremely worried." Giotto scolded, frowning down at his brother, who was doing a decent attempt at looking apologetic. "You can't just run off like that. Who knows what kind of trouble you could get in?"

"I didn't though." Tsuna said quietly, but forcefully. "I didn't get into any trouble. I was completely fine. I'm not going to get kidnapped the moment you take your eyes off me. Stop worrying so much. I am fine."

Dino sighed. "You really don't understand the danger of our world, do you? It is a dangerous world and the people in it will not hesitate to attack or kill you. These people are not weak. With no way to defend yourself and no strength, you'd be taken easily. It would cause us a lot of fear and worry so you need to stay with us."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes at his self-proclaimed older brother. His narrowed eyes moved to Giotto, then to the man standing behind them, Reborn. "You can't be with me all the time. At some point, you both have to leave to take over your respective Famiglias _in Italy_. In that case, teach me to fight, to defend myself." As he said this, he was looking at Giotto, then at Reborn to get the message across to his dear brother.

But it seemed his dear brother thought otherwise as he paled greatly. "No, absolutely not. Reborn is a dangerous hitman. You will not be taught by him. This is too dangerous for you, Tsuna. Just forget that you know about the mafia and that we are involved. Even when we leave for Italy, there will still be members of the Vongola Famiglia around because they have to keep you and Mom safe. Don't let them know you know. It's safer that way."

Tsuna's little hands clenched into fists at his sides. He shot a look at Reborn, asking for help, but the hitman was no longer looking at him. With no help from Reborn, he looked to Dino in the hope that he understood why he needed this, but the boy looked just as determined as Giotto to keep him out of this world.

"Sorry little bro, but we're not letting you get involved any farther. We want you to stay innocent." Dino said.

"So," Tsuna said, shaking with something between annoyance and anger. "You want me to spend my life, acting oblivious to the fact that my brothers are involved in something as dangerous as the mafia, not able to defend myself, and allow myself to be protected by everyone else?" Frustrated, Tsuna smacked his hand against the wall, glaring at his brothers. "Why not just lock me up in a house for the rest of my life if that's the case? I'll be the innocent little doll that never sees the outside world!"

He didn't give either of them a chance to reply, choosing instead to walk pass them and up the stairs to his room. Instead of slamming his bedroom door shut like he wanted, he closed it gently and locked it. Why didn't they understand that they couldn't protect him forever? If he didn't learn to protect himself, bad stuff was going to happen. It was impossible to keep him from that world, he knew that and he was sure they knew that so why were they trying so hard to keep him from it?

Back downstairs, Reborn was staring at his two students with a frown. "He was right. You can't keep him safe forever. He has to see the real world sometime."

"He's fine as long as we keep him away from the mafia." Giotto said stubbornly, glaring at his tutor. "This is your fault in the first place. You didn't have to tell him about all this."

Reborn looked from one student to the other with a dark frown.

"You both are still too naïve."

**A/N: Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**Thanks to those who reviewed! **

**Oh, and people are surprised that Tsuna is really smart for only being nine. It's not that he's smart. He's just very observant and is good at piecing a puzzle together. Which does require some intelligence, but he's not super smart. He still struggles with his lessons like math, English, science, etc. **

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

**Precious Sky**

**Chapter 3**

When Tsuna opened his eyes the next morning, they fell on the clock that read six a.m. and he groaned. He hated getting up this early in the morning, but it couldn't be helped. He went to bed early last night because he was irritated and the best thing to do was sleep it off so it shouldn't be a surprise that he woke up early. Oh well, at least this way he could get ready and leave without his brothers pestering him.

He quickly got dressed and quietly made his way to the stairs. Giotto and Dino, who shared a room, were in the room right before the stairs so he had to be careful as not to wake them. Ever since Reborn began training them, they've become more alert, even when asleep. Which reminded him. Reborn was in the guest bedroom across from Giotto and Dino. Now he had to be even more careful.

He just hoped that his clumsy feet didn't trip him up on the stairs, but that shouldn't be a problem. Reborn had gotten sick of his clumsiness when he first arrived and helped him to become a bit agile and graceful.

Though, usually, luck was against him, today it seemed to favor him as he got down the stairs without any incidents and went to the kitchen where he could already hear the humming that came from his mom when she was cooking early in the morning. "Morning Mom." He greeted quietly.

Nana froze in her actions and turned to her son, smiling brightly. "Tsu-kun! You are sure up early. Usually Reborn has to wake you up."

Tsuna twitched at that. Even though the hitman wasn't his tutor, he found pleasure in waking up all the kids in the house. Though, he was gentler with waking Tsuna then he was with his own students. Tsuna wasn't complaining though. He had no desire to be woken up by being electrocuted, kicked, hit with a hammer, have ice cold water poured on him, etc. The way that sadistic hitman woke him up was slightly annoying and sometimes traumatizing, but he was fine with it this way.

"I went to bed early last night." Tsuna shrugged, but he saw the concern flash in his mother's eyes and regretted opening his mouth.

"Irritated. I heard you boys arguing when you came home last night. I couldn't understand what was being said since I was in the kitchen, but you didn't sound happy. Is everything alright, Tsu-kun?"

"Yeah, nothing's wrong. Mom, can you make me an extra bento today?" Tsuna asked to divert her attention. "If you want, I can help you make them."

Nana giggled. "Does my little Tsu-kun want to learn to cook?"

Tsuna blushed, but nodded. He just really wanted to give something to his first friend, but he wasn't going to tell his mom that. If he told her he had a friend, she would want to know everything about him. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but his would mother would no doubt blabber all the information to Dino and Giotto. That would mean Takeshi's house would no longer be a sanctuary for him from his over-protective brothers.

Nana broke into a big smile at her youngest wanting to learn to cook. "Then let's get started. First, we're going to….."

Once the bentos were done, Tsuna packed them in his bag, grabbed some toast for breakfast, and left for school early so he didn't have to meet his brothers.

What he didn't expect was to see his friend outside, staring at the nameplate for the house. Raising a brow in confusion, Tsuna approached his friend, stopping to stare at the nameplate as well. "Is there something interesting about my last name, Takeshi?"

Said boy jumped in surprise at Tsuna's voice. He hadn't notice the boy approach him. "Sorry, Tsuna. I just didn't realize I passed your house on the way to school."

"Not a surprise since you didn't know my name before yesterday." Tsuna replied. "Why are you going to school so early anyway?"

"Classroom duty this morning, and you?" Takeshi asked.

"Avoiding my brothers. We got into an argument last night." Tsuna explained, frowning in an upset manner. He didn't like fighting with any of his brothers or sister (Elena).

"You shouldn't avoid them." Takeshi chided.

Tsuna shrugged. "Walk to school with me?"

"Sure." Takeshi said cheerfully and swung an arm over Tsuna's shoulder.

Unbeknown to both boys, a certain hitman had woken up and watched the whole exchange from his bedroom window. His curious eyes were hidden by his fedora. As far as he knew, Tsuna didn't have any friends and he knew everything. It seemed that he had some work to do. He let Tsuna slip out of his radar for too long.

"I was wondering, when do your brothers get up? It is getting pretty late for them to be waking up." Takeshi commented.

"Dino, Giotto, and I don't like getting up in the morning so Reborn usual wakes us. He wakes me in a way to creep me out, but he wakes my nii-sans up in cruel ways like hitting them with a hammer, kicking them out of bed, throwing ice cold water on them, and so much more." Tsuna said, twitching slightly as he thought about.

Takeshi, on the other hand, started to laugh loudly.

Tsuna snorted. "You laugh because you think I am joking."

"Tsuna, there is no tutor like that out there." Takeshi said once he got his laughter under control.

"You say that because you haven't met Reborn." Tsuna retorted.

"I think you've been reading too many mangas." Takeshi quipped.

Tsuna raised a brow. "You say that because you haven't met Reborn."

"Is that going to be your answer to everything?" Takeshi asked, raising a brow in amusement.

Tsuna blinked up at his friend, but allowed a small smirk to grace his features. "You say that because you haven't met Reborn."

"That one doesn't even make sense!" Takeshi half-shouted, but was amused.

"You say that because you haven't met Reborn." Tsuna commented.

"Neither does that!"

"You say th–"

"You say that one more time, I swear I'll," Takeshi paused to think of a threat. He didn't know Tsuna all too well since they only met yesterday, but he knew one thing about the boy. He liked being a quiet observer. "I'll make you the center of attention and make you talk to everyone and be distracted from your observations and dragged you around so people will swarm around you, not giving you any space."

Tsuna shuddered. "I don't like my personal space being disrupted, Takeshi."

The taller boy looked at his arm which was still wrapped around Tsuna's shoulder and removed it. He didn't realize he was making his new friend uncomfortable because his personal space was invaded.

Surprisingly though, Tsuna just glanced up at his friend with a frown. "By strangers, Takeshi. I don't mind family and friends being in it cause I can trust them not to harm me. You're a friend, Takeshi."

A grin broke out on Takeshi's face as he threw his arm back over Tsuna's shoulder.

When they arrived at their class, Tsuna went to his cubby in the back of the classroom while Takeshi went to talk to the only other child there, who was supposed to be his partner in the classroom duties that morning. To Tsuna's displeasure, it was Ohmae, but he didn't say anything. He didn't want to cause any problems; that was Ohmae's job as he liked to pick on people, especially Tsuna since he was so quiet.

When Tsuna was finished at his cubby, he turned around to see that Takeshi and Ohmae were getting the classroom set up for the school day. Takeshi was putting all the chairs on the floor while Ohmae set up worksheets on the table in the front of the class for their classmates to grab and take to their desks when they came in. Their teacher was at the early teacher meeting that they had every morning.

"Hey Yamamoto." Ohmae called suddenly when he noticed Tsuna sitting at his desk.

Takeshi stopped in his work and glanced up at his baseball teammate. "What is it?" He asked, giving him a huge smile.

"Why, of all people, did you choose Sawada to come in with?" Ohmae asked, shooting a nasty glare at Tsuna, who sighed and glanced down at his desk. Of course people would sneer when they saw Tsuna with the popular Takeshi. Nobody actually liked him cause he was so quiet and liked to insult him. They loved it even more when he was the worst student in the class. It was lucky Reborn helped him with his grades, but that didn't stop all the teasing he got. Honestly, he was surprised that Takeshi didn't realize they were in the same class from all the teasing and insults he got.

"What do you mean?" Takeshi demanded, eyes narrowed at his friend.

Ohmae snorted. "Don't you realize how useless and dumb he is? All he does is sit there, all quiet. He never does anything! It's like he's an invalid!"

Tsuna sighed, but didn't raise his head. He was used to all the insults, but that didn't mean they didn't hurt him. He was constantly feeling the harsh words stab at his heart, but no one ever noticed. No one ever cared.

"Shut up!"

Tsuna's eyes snapped up to his friend. Takeshi sounded so harsh and angry in those two words. It was something he didn't think was possible for him. "Ta–" He started, but was cut off by Takeshi.

Takeshi was glaring at Ohmae so harshly that the boy was clearly trembling in fear and Tsuna couldn't blame him. When Takeshi wanted to be, he looked incredibly scary. "You do not insult Tsuna ever again, got it? He has never done anything to you and you know nothing about him. He is a much better person then you."

"Takeshi!" Tsuna shouted in dismay, jumping up from his seat. "Please, stop. You don't have to waste your time defending me."

"I'll say he shouldn't. Nothing good ever comes from associating yourself with an idiot like Sawada." Ohmae sneered, despite the fear he was feeling of Takeshi so it either made him really brave or really stupid.

It was lucky for the boy that Tsuna was fast and was able to grab a hold of Takeshi's shirt before he could hit Ohmae. "Takeshi, stop it! It doesn't matter what anyone says about me." Tsuna cried, desperately trying to hold Takeshi back, but to his surprise, Takeshi spun around to face him, which caused him to lose his grip and stumble forward slightly to have Takeshi grab him by the shoulders to keep from falling over. Though, that didn't comfort Tsuna as the taller boy was now glaring down at Tsuna.

"How can you say that?" Takeshi asked so quietly that it came out as a deadly whisper. "Of course it matters, Tsuna. He was insulting you!"

"It happens all the time! Don't concern yourself with it. I'm used to it." Tsuna retorted, giving his friend a smile to show he was alright with it.

Or, that was the plan until Takeshi was staring at him in a mix of anger and disbelief. "It seems that you have already forgotten, Tsuna. I am the King of fake smiles. You actually think I can't see passed that fake smile to know that you are hurting because of this?"

"Takeshi, listen to me! Everyone teases me, okay? Just forget about it and don't cause a scene." Tsuna said exasperated.

Takeshi shook his head and turned to glare at Ohmae, who was staring at them in disbelief. "I can't do that. No one should be teased so badly that they begin to think it's alright for them to be teased and that it will never end."

"Ta–"

"No." Yamamoto cut Tsuna off. He bowed his head slightly so his eyes couldn't be seen anymore. "No. No one is ever to insult Tsuna again, got it, Ohmae? No one."

Ohmae nodded frantically, a bit frightened by Takeshi. The baseball stare was always nice to everyone so to see this strange side of him was very scary.

Tsuna grabbed Takeshi's arm and dragged him to the back of the classroom so he was away from Ohmae. When they were alone in the back, Tsuna glared at Takeshi. "What are you doing? You shouldn't waste your breathe to defend a nobody like me against your friend."

"Ohmae is one of the people who only likes me because of my skill at baseball. That's all I'm good for, according to him." Takeshi retorted.

"You can't know–"

"I overheard him and a few other of my teammates talking about it. I know." Takeshi argued. "He's not a true friend. You are, so I am going to defend you."

Tsuna snorted. "What are you going to do? Go to every single person who teases me and tell them to stop?"

"Why not?" Takeshi asked innocently.

"Your reputation will be ruined because of a nobody." Tsuna answered.

"Tsuna," Takeshi said desperately. "We are friends. I can't just sit back and watch you get hurt. And don't try to say you're used to the teasing and it doesn't hurt. I saw the pained expression you were trying to hide earlier when Ohmae started."

Tsuna bit his bottom lip and glanced at Ohmae, who was glaring angrily at him as if blaming him for this surprise turn of events. "I just don't want to be the reason that your life becomes ruins. I am a no-good invalid that messes up everyone's lives." He said quietly.

Takeshi was shocked to the core when he heard those words. This….this couldn't be the same Tsuna that he met yesterday. Yesterday, Tsuna was the definition of calm, confident, brave and strong. He saved Takeshi from himself. Today, though, this Tsuna standing in front of him was weak, scared, and defenseless. He wasn't even trying to stick up for himself. Instead, he'd rather be concerned about Takeshi's reputation and life.

When Takeshi didn't reply, Tsuna sighed in sadness, but nodded his head in acceptance. He knew this had been coming when he said hanging with him would ruin Takeshi's life. Everyone valued the way their lives go and didn't want to risk it for anything. "I understand. I knew that it was too good to be true. It was a bad idea for us to call each other friends."

The baseball star couldn't believe his ears. Tsuna was dismissing him?

"I'm sorry for bothering you, Takeshi." Tsuna said in a whisper before moving to his seat in the back corner. "We can't be friends it seems."

"N-no….Wait, Tsuna." Takeshi mumbled, reaching out a hand to grab Tsuna, but his hand just wouldn't clench around Tsuna's arm and pull him back. All he could do was stare at Tsuna's back.

Before Takeshi could speak to Tsuna again, their teacher and some of their fellow classmates were coming in. He was surrounded by some of them, all of them speaking loudly and excitedly to him. Out of the corner of his eye, Takeshi noticed that not a single student approached Tsuna or the empty desk next to him as the desks were situated that two were pushed together to make a small table. There were three rows of these desks. Takeshi sat in the middle row in the middle of the classroom. It was no wonder he never saw Tsuna, who was in the very back and next to the window.

As the class was called to order, Takeshi walked over to his desk, but did it slowly while staring at Tsuna. He was hoping Tsuna would turn and catch his eye, but the boy did no such thing. He just kept staring out the window with his head resting in his palm.

Sighing, Takeshi collapsed in his seat, nodding to whatever his seatmate was saying that he wasn't listening to. Instead he was looking over at Tsuna all alone in his corner. No one sat next to him at his little table. Granted, they had an odd number in their class so someone was going to have to sit by themselves, but still, it looked like his classmates were avoiding him. Even those who were sitting in front of Tsuna and to his right seemed to be upset at how close they were to Tsuna. He even noticed a couple of them shooting nasty glares at the boy for doing nothing.

As the day went on, Takeshi felt himself looking over his shoulder at Tsuna more often. Each time he looked though, Tsuna either had his head down to stare stubbornly at his work or he was getting sneers or insults from his fellow classmates. Takeshi felt anger fill up in his stomach when he saw his friend being insulted just because he was different and preferred to sit down and watch others during recess.

What Takeshi didn't realize was that the insults and teasing were worse, way worse today, than usual. Tsuna knew though. He was the one receiving all the insults. There was no way for Takeshi to know it was worse than usual since he never noticed any of this before. There was no way for the oblivious boy to realize that by trying to defend Tsuna, he just made it all worse for the boy. Having a popular boy try to defend him, then to have Tsuna walk away from said boy and his efforts made everything horrible. His classmates were snarling at him and telling him to stay away from Yamamoto so he didn't ruin the boy's life. A stupid no-good like him had no right to talk to Yamamoto. During one of the breaks when their teacher had her back turned, one of the boys even dared to kick Tsuna's chair, causing the boy to yelp in shock and fall to the ground. His elbow slammed into the ground, causing him a bit of pain. He had just climbed to his knees when another boy came and kicked him harshly in the stomach, eliciting a pained groan from Tsuna. He fell forward clutching his stomach, one eye shut in pain while his other stared at the boys in front of him.

The one who started it kneeled down so he was hidden by the desks and grabbed Tsuna roughly by his hair and forced his head up so he was looking at the boy. "Stay away from Yamamoto-kun, got it? You're going to ruin our chances of winning the next game with your rotten luck."

Anger filled up in Tsuna when he heard the boy. These boys didn't care about Yamamoto. They just wanted his skill in baseball. There weren't true friends, but then, what could Tsuna say? He didn't have any friends. He had no place to get involved in Yamamoto's life. He was just a loser with horrible luck that traveled to anyone he tried to befriend or interact with. There was a reason he only talked to those who came to his house.

The boys may have managed to avoid the teacher's eyes, but they weren't hidden from the shocked ones that belonged to Yamamoto. How could he have been so oblivious to all of this? How could he have not seen what his classmates were doing before?

The boy that was holding Tsuna's hair let it go but before moving away, he punched the boy in the face so he could understand the message. "Stay away." He growled before moving with his buddies, leaving the students who saw all this to laugh at the crumpled heap on the ground.

At his desk, Yamamoto stood up to approach the fallen boy, but before he could move Tsuna had climbed back into his seat and, noticing Yamamoto staring at him, glared at the boy to keep him away. Horror stricken about what happened, the baseball star ignored the glare and took a step to the back of the classroom, but got no farther as the teacher suddenly called the class to order to continue the lesson.

Nothing. That was Yamamoto felt. He felt nothing. He wanted to feel anger at his classmates, but couldn't. He wanted to feel sadness, pity, for Tsuna, but couldn't. The only thing in him as the last lesson before lunch started was emptiness. Why did he never notice it before? Was it because all he was good for was baseball? It was an important part of his life, yes, but did he really allow it to blind him so much? Or were it his teammates that only used him to win games? Did the pain he felt from that completely leave him blind to the pain that others were feeling?

Yamamoto looked over his shoulder at the hunched figure in the back. He kept his head down, pencil clenched so tightly in his fist that it was shaking, and was breathing so heavily that Yamamoto could see the rapid rise and fall of his back. How could he be so stupid? He was so lost in his own pain and hopelessness that he didn't even think it was possible for others to feel pain like he did. He thought he was the only one hurting. Why didn't he just open his eyes and see that he wasn't alone?

The moment the bell rang for lunch, Yamamoto was out of his seat, determined to get to Tsuna, but he couldn't even take a single step before he was surrounded by his false friends.

While Yamamoto was trying to get away from his friends, Tsuna had slipped out of his seat and moved to his cubby. He pulled his stuff out, pausing when he looked at the second bento in his bag. How stupid he was? He had actually thought he could be friends with Yamamoto and made him a lunch. Really, he should have known better. There was no way that he could be friends with the most popular boy in the school. Sighing, Tsuna pulled the bento out. Even if they couldn't be friends, he shouldn't let the food go to waste. He glanced over his shoulder to notice that Yamamoto was distracted with his friends.

A few minutes later, just as Yamamoto got away from his friends, Tsuna was out the door with all his belongs and heading home. The black haired boy was desperately looking around the classroom for the boy, but to his displeasure, he couldn't find him. Dejected, he went over to his cubby to see a surprise waiting for him.

It was a bento with a note attached.

**A/N: Awww, so sad! In the next few chapters, I want you all to remember that these two are only nine and never had true friends. They are still learning what it means to be friends and will make mistakes, huge mistakes. Just remember that cause I think the next few chapters might be hard for some of you. Or some of you might think I wrote it wrong and that would never happen. Once again, just remember, they're nine and never had real friends. Plus, everyone makes mistakes. **

**Please Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! **

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

**Precious Sky**

**Chapter 4**

Yamamoto wasn't surprised to see a bento in his cubby. Girls tended to put them there for him because they were too shy to give it to him in person. Those girls were the ones who had crushes on the nice boy. Considering how nice he was, he was never able to throw away the bento or ignore it. Grabbing the note, Yamamoto made sure his friends were busy so they didn't see it. It wasn't that he was embarrassed; he didn't want whoever left this to be embarrassed.

Upon seeing them busy with their own lunches, Yamamoto opened the note. To his surprise, the writing in it wasn't neat like the girls like to make it when they gave him a note. Instead it was sloppy as if written in a hurry. His eyes widened in shock when he read the note.

_I'm sorry for bothering you with trying to be your friend, Yamamoto-kun. It was a mistake on my part. I was foolish to think I could be friends with the most popular boy in school. I'm not deserving of friends. I am too much of a no-good loser with rotten luck. I helped my mom make this bento for you before I realized how stupid I was being. I don't want it to go to waste so I hope you like it. I won't bother you again after this. Sorry. Sawada_

Yamamoto crumbled the note up in his hands angrily. What did his stupid classmates do? They were ruining the one boy that actually cared about other people even when he was in so much pain.

Putting up his false smile, Yamamoto grabbed the bento from Tsuna and went over to his desk which was surrounded by a group of false people. But it hurt so much more than it used to. It never hurt this much to act falsely cheerful around these people. He just wanted to see Tsuna so badly. Where could the boy have gone?

Lunch passed painfully slow to Yamamoto, who just wanted it to end so Tsuna would come back to the class and show Yamamoto that he wasn't hurting too badly from the bullying. But to his extreme displeasure, Tsuna didn't return after lunch. His desk remained empty for the rest of the day, causing Yamamoto to feel great fear. He hoped nothing happened to the boy.

***Precious*Sky***

The moment he left the classroom, Tsuna decided to head home. He couldn't handle any more school today. It was the same thing every single day. Bullying, teasing, mocking sneers. But today was the first day that someone dared to get physical with him. Usual they were too afraid to get that close to him in case his rotten luck rubbed off on them. He didn't even think it could worse, but it seemed life loved to prove him wrong.

He held his throbbing cheek in his hand as he walked home, head hanging low so he didn't have to look up at anyone. No doubt he would just see more sneers on their faces. Why did his life suck so much? His brother had such great friends, was smart, way smarter than Tsuna, and had a lot of people that cared for him. Was Tsuna just supposed to be left with nothing while his brother got everything handed to him on a silver platter?

But he didn't feel an ounce of jealously for his brother. He knew that he could feel jealous, but it wouldn't do anything. Jealously would not get him friends, intelligence, or people who cared for him. It would do nothing but cause more problems in his life. He didn't want any more problems.

By the time he got home, the pain he was feeling in his wounds had numbed mostly so now the only pain he felt was in his heart. Something that could never be healed with time.

He pushed the door to his house open, removed his shoes, and called the customary greeting, "I'm home."

He wasn't surprised when his mother came to the door in surprise about her youngest being home already. Tsuna kept his head turned so his mother couldn't see the bruise shining on his cheek and get all worried. "What are you doing home, Tsu-kun? School isn't over."

"I just didn't want to stay any longer." Tsuna said as normally as he could. There was no point in causing his mother needless worry. "I'm going to my room." He walked passed his mother, making sure to keep the right side of his face from view as he did so.

The moment he was in his room, he locked his door, closed the curtains and collapsed onto his bed. Why were they so cruel? He never did anything to them. In fact, he made sure not to bother any of them in the hope that they would get bored and leave him alone. But the never did. They always came back to bully him even more. Was it his destiny to be a useless no-good who wouldn't make it through his life?

***Precious*Sky***

"What do you mean he isn't here?" Giotto growled angrily at the woman who was supposed to be his little brother's teacher. If it wasn't for Dino and G., he would have already launched himself forward at the woman who lost his brother.

Mina-sensei, for her part, was a bit frightened by Giotto. She had known the boy for a while since Tsuna was in her class. Apparently the teen was more over-protective than she realized. "I've already told you, Sawada-kun. He disappeared during lunch. He probably went home."

"How could you just let one of your students disappear without questioning it?" Giotto demanded angrily.

"I have thirty students to look out for, Sawada-kun. It is hard to keep track of all them. In fact, I wouldn't have known he was gone since he is so quiet and sits in the back if it hadn't been for one of my students saying he left during lunch." Mina retorted.

Giotto saw red. He ripped himself free from his two friends, only to be grabbed by Knuckle and Asari before he could do something he would later regret. "It's your job to watch out for all of your students. You were supposed to notice if one was missing from your class and do something about it. Just because he's quiet, that is no reason for you to not notice him."

"Giotto, forget it, forget her." G. growled. "Your brother isn't here. We should just leave and find him. Perhaps he really did go home early."

The tenth boss let himself be dragged away from the school. His heart was beating so fast against his chest. He hadn't meant to get angry, but he was so mad at that teacher. Teachers were supposed to watch out and care for their students. For six days a week, teachers watched those students and taught. To think that the teacher ignored his little brother because he was quiet and didn't try to grab attention upset him. His little brother meant everything to him.

The farther away they got from the school, the more Giotto calmed down and allowed himself to think rationally. His brother should be fine. His Hyper Intuition didn't tell him anything was wrong. Tsuna was fine. He had to be. If they were enemies around, Reborn would have mentioned it. Tsuna was fine.

Giotto led his friends to his house, still a bit frantic about his brother, but much calmer than he was before. No one talked as they were worried about putting their friend on the edge again. It was lucky for all of them that Giotto's house wasn't too long of a walk from the school.

"I'm home!" Giotto called loudly when he stepped into the house with his friends. He looked down at the shoes as he was removing his, and was surprised and relieved to see his little brother's sitting there already.

"Welcome home." Nana greeted as she reached the front door, giving all the teens a smile that wasn't like the one she usually greeted them with.

Giotto frowned as he noticed right away. "Is something wrong, Mom?"

Nana smiled sadly and glanced up the stairs. "Your brother came home early today. He barely spoke when he did come and has locked himself in his room since."

All the relief Giotto was feeling upon seeing his brother's shoes immediately disappeared. He ignored his friends' shouts to wait and ran up the stairs to his brother's room. He knocked on the door, desperate for it to open so he could see his brother's bright eyes that said everything was alright and there was no need to worry. "Tsuna? Tsuna, can you please open up for me?" He asked.

"Go away."

Giotto felt his heart plummet to his stomach. His little brother never told him to go away. He would always talk to Giotto. Tsuna thought it greatly disrespectful to ignore his older brother who helped raise him since he had no father. His little brother would never want him to leave. "Tsuna–"

"Leave me alone." Tsuna whispered desperately, but Giotto heard all the same. What was wrong with his little brother?

"Tsu–"

"I SAID TO GO AWAY!" Tsuna screamed at the top of his lungs, but immediately collapsed to his knees after he did that. He didn't want his brother to go away, but he couldn't face him either. Facing his brother would mean he would see his face, which was half covered with an ugly bruise. He had already removed shirt to see that his stomach also had an ugly bruise on it. His elbow had a small scrape. All in all, it wasn't that bad, but he couldn't face his over-protective brothers like this. He just couldn't. After all, this was his fault. He would deal with it on his own, like he always has.

***Precious*Sky***

The minute that school was over, Yamamoto packed all his belongings and was gone before anyone could say a word to him. He was so glad that he found Tsuna's house that morning or he would have been completely lost as to where to go.

The walk to the house was anxious for Yamamoto, but there was also determination flaring in his heart. He needed to talk to Tsuna now. At first he wasn't sure of what he was to do, but when he saw that bento in his cubby, he knew. He knew he had to speak to Tsuna. That bento's food was delicious, but he couldn't enjoy it knowing that the people that surrounded him were bullies who hurt Tsuna. He needed Tsuna.

By the time he reached Tsuna's house, Yamamoto's resolve had weakened a bit. Just looking up at the house caused him a bit of fear. It wasn't that he was afraid of Tsuna or getting rejected, he just didn't know what to do. He wanted to talk, he knew that, but he had no idea of what to say. What could he possibly say to fix the situation that Tsuna was in? What if he just makes everything worse for the boy?

Yamamoto forced those thoughts away and walked up to the door. Before he could lose his nerve again, he rang the doorbell and waited. He didn't have to wait long before the door was opened by a kind looking woman, who gave him a strained smile. "Ah, hello there. I don't believe I know you."

"I'm Yamamoto Takeshi. Nice to meet you, ma'am." Yamamoto greeted, giving a short bow to her.

"The pleasure is mine. I am Sawada Nana, Yamamoto-kun." Nana greeted, though looked confused. "What are you here for?"

"Sorry for troubling you, but I was wondering if Tsuna was home?" Yamamoto asked politely.

A worried looked came over Nana's face as she glanced over her shoulder. "He is. Are you a friend?"

Yamamoto opened his mouth to say that he was, but before he could, Tsuna's words came back to him.

"_It was a bad idea for us to call each other friends….We can't be friends it seems." _

That's right. Tsuna had dismissed him as a friend because of Ohmae and all the others who spoke badly of Tsuna.

"No," Yamamoto whispered sadly. "No, I'm not a friend, just a classmate. I do need to talk to him though."

Once again, Nana glanced worriedly in the house. "It's not that I want to refuse you, but it won't be that easy to talk to him. He locked himself in his room and won't let anyone in, not even his brother."

"Can I at least try?" Yamamoto asked desperately.

"There's no harm in trying, I guess." Nana murmured and stepped aside to allow the boy admittance to the house.

Yamamoto nodded his head in thanks and stepped passed her. He noticed a few heads sticking out of the kitchen doorway in curiosity, but ignored them in favor of turning back to Tsuna's mom. "Could you show me to his room?"

Once Nana had showed him which room belonged to Tsuna, she left him to give him some privacy and a chance to get into the room. When he was sure she was gone, Yamamoto knocked on the door. "Tsuna? Can I talk to you?"

Inside the bedroom, Tsuna froze. What was Yamamoto doing here? He didn't…..no couldn't be with the boy. His life would be ruined because of him. Yamamoto already feels so much pain because of those false friends he has. Tsuna couldn't allow himself to be associated with Yamamoto and make his life even worse because of his so-called rotten luck.

"No. Go home." Tsuna said harshly.

"What? But Tsuna–" Yamamoto started, but was cut off.

"I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to be seen with you. I don't want anything to do with you, Yamamoto. Go away and leave me alone forever. I don't need you. I can take care of myself." Tsuna snarled, but with each word he said, his heart clenched and screamed in pain. How could he say all this to the only person who ever wanted to call him a friend? But then he remembered all the taunts, all his classmates saying that anyone who tried to be his friend would have a horrible life. He couldn't do this. He couldn't make life even worse for the only classmate he had that cared.

Yamamoto froze in knocking on the door when he heard every harsh word that came from Tsuna. Tsuna was the boy that saved him, saved him from himself when he was feeling down because his teammates used him for his skills at baseball. All his popularity came from his skills at a sport he loved. Tsuna saved him, but the same boy that saved him was also pushing him away and wanted nothing to do with him. He had always been a nice and caring person. Was that not enough? Was he not good enough? Not good enough for the person who saved him to also care for him?

"You're only good at baseball and nothing else. I don't need someone in my life whose only skills belong to a game." Tsuna bit out harshly. He took everything he had to keep his voice strong and steady. He hated saying these things, but Yamamoto had to leave. He couldn't be around someone with horrible luck like him. His life would be utterly ruined if he did. It hurt, but it was better for Yamamoto this way. He could still be successful in life.

The black haired boy backed away from the door. His heart was screaming at him. It was screaming in pain because each word from Tsuna had stabbed him, stabbed him repeatedly in his heart. This was a bad idea. He and Tsuna…..they just couldn't be friends. They were never meant to be friends. They were too different. No matter how much it hurt to admit, it was the truth. It just wasn't possible.

He spun on his heels and ran from the house. He bumped into Tsuna's mom. He wanted to stop and apologize, but he couldn't. Right now, he just needed to escape from it. Tsuna had made it perfectly clear. They would never be friends.

"What the hell is going on around here?" G. demanded, eyeing the back of the boy that came to talk to Tsuna never stopping. That boy just kept on running.

"Nothing for you to be involved in so forget about it." Reborn said as he came down the stairs, eyes hidden by his fedora. He too glanced out the door that was left thrown open in Yamamoto's haste to escape the house.

Giotto's eyes snapped to the hitman. They were glowing with anger when he realized what the hitman meant. That damn tutor of his knew what was going on with his precious little brother, but he knew better than to ask. Reborn was never going to tell him what was wrong with Tsuna. "Why?" He asked shakily. "Why are you doing this, Reborn?"

Giotto's guardians, including Alaude who decided to meet with his friends today, Dino, and Elena looked at their boss in confusion. What had he realized that they had missed?

"He isn't a part of our world. He's my little brother who is only nine. Why are you not allowing us to help?" Giotto asked desperately.

"He is a Sky whether you like it or not," Reborn growled.

"I already told you he is not in our world. He is innocent. He is not yours to train!" Giotto said angrily, defiance filling his eyes. "So why are you following him? Why are you not protecting him? Why are you allowing whatever happened between him and that boy to happen? You are ruining both of their lives!"

"When two people face troubles like this, what happens?" Reborn asked.

"What?" Giotto asked confused, momentarily forgetting his anger.

Lampo frowned as he looked at G. and Giotto. When those two first met, not everything had been good between them. They had hated each other at first, not realizing that each other were facing troubles in their lives. Giotto was at a lost because his father suddenly left right before Tsuna was born, leaving without a good-bye to him like always. And G. had just moved to Japan with his dad because his parents got divorced. Because of that, G. had to leave his newly born little brother, which upset him greatly. The two ran into each one day and their first meeting was not a good one. They got into a huge argument and hated each other. In a twist of fate, they both kept running into each other and eventually they learned what the other was going through. It was because of that they became friends, boss and subordinate. "Ah, I see. Something like this can either destroy them or create a bond between them that cannot be destroyed by anything." He said, but regretted it when Giotto turned a vicious glare to him. He hid behind Asari to escape it.

"You are risking destroying my brother's life because of a gamble?" Giotto snarled at his tutor. "You don't know anything about that boy that was just here. What if he doesn't come back to help Tsuna? What if Tsuna lets this whole thing be his downfall? Whatever you did, it's destroyed him."

Reborn raised a brow. "You do not understand a thing, Giotto. Not a thing about your brother. You are so busy trying to protect him that you don't see the potential he has. You don't see that he is always hurting. You do not see what goes on when he is not in this house. You do not see that he is constantly suffering, but he doesn't say anything because he doesn't want to bother anyone and knows he can handle it on his own. Your brother is stronger than you believe."

Giotto winced. It wasn't that he didn't see the hurt shining in those brown orbs, it just that he was so busy with training or school that he didn't consult it right away. He always meant to go back to Tsuna and talk to him, but he forgot by the time he was finished with what he was doing or Tsuna had gone off somewhere and he couldn't find him to talk. By the time he reappeared, the pain had disappeared so he always assumed that whatever it was, it was fixed or he got over it. Was he wrong? Did he make too many mistakes where his little brother was concerned because he was so busy with his own life?

"And I did nothing to your brother to interrupt his life. What happened, always happens, but it was worse today. It is not my place to interfere. If I interfere, he will never grow and get passed this. By always protecting him from everything that hurts him, he will remain weak. You cannot interfere in this." Reborn continued, ignoring the turmoil that had entered Giotto's eyes. As a mafia boss, he had to be able to hear the cold hard truth.

Elena put a gentle hand on Giotto's shoulder to let him know that she was here with him. She looked at Reborn with a trouble expression. She had always been fond of little Tsuna, ever since their first meeting so it upset her greatly to hear that his life was going downhill and they couldn't help. "But what if it doesn't get fixed? What then?"

Reborn kept a neutral expression on as he replied, "Not everything is fixed in an instant. It could take weeks, months, or years for this to be fixed. Or, it could never be fixed. Everyone faces trials in their lives that help them grow into the person they were meant to be. This, this is Tsuna's first trial and it is where everything begins as to who he will grow up to be."

**A/N: Trials! Don't you just hate the trials of your life? They are never fun. I'm serious about the whole it may take years thing for one trial. Never fun! Though, that is all cause middle school and high school suck. Plus, they hurt a lot, especially when no one notices! Not even your friends. *Sigh* Which is why trials, which suck greatly, help you grow up into you should be. **

**Please Review! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**A/N: I meant to post this the other day, but I am so into finding animes and watching them recently. I watched one called "Broken Blade" and loved it so I had to read the manga, which screwed me up greatly because it was a more heavy and realistic war manga, basically the emotions in it. It caused me to become detached from my emotions for the day I was reading it. Well, now that I'm back to normal, I thought I'd update this. **

**Thanks to those who reviewed! **

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

**Precious Sky**

**Chapter 5**

The first few days after that day, Tsuna stayed locked in his room, refusing to come out for anything. He didn't go to school. He didn't speak to anyone when they knocked at his door after Yamamoto left. He knew that if he opened his mouth, cries would escape him and he would be screaming apologies. His family was worried he would starve to death, but what they didn't know was that he left his room late at night when everyone was sleeping to eat and go to the bathroom. It was the only time he could wander around freely without having to meet anyone.

What he didn't know was that each time he did that, he would wake Reborn. The tutor would watch him from the shadows or listen to everything he did from his bedroom. He liked the young Sky. Giotto may think he was being harsh, but he wanted more than anything for the boy to pass his life's trials. He didn't want to see him fall to become something he shouldn't. Because of that, he would never interfere and allow the boy to handle his trials on his own. It was the only way he could grow.

After those few days of being locked in his room, Tsuna decided it was time to go back to school. The only reason he avoided going to school before this was because of two reasons. One, he didn't want anyone to see his injuries. They would laugh at him, even if they were the ones to do it. Two, he couldn't face Yamamoto. He hurt the boy. He wouldn't be surprised if he decided to retaliate by bullying him as well.

While Tsuna locked himself away, Yamamoto had run home after he tried to speak with Tsuna and got rejected instead. He ran into the restaurant, ignoring the worried shouts of his dad and the confused and concerned looks he got from some of the regulars there. He was hurting too much to face any of it right now.

The next few days passed like the world was on fast forward. His father tried to talk to him to know what was wrong, but he just couldn't tell him. He liked Tsuna too much to admit that he actually said those things. He didn't want it to be the truth. Then there was school. He continued to attend it with his false smile and fake cheery attitude. Every day he looked at Tsuna's seat to see that it was empty. Even when he wasn't here, his classmates sneered about him, saying that he was going to ruin their class average, that he was a no-good loser who was probably dropping out of school since it obvious to everyone that he will fail at life. He heard it all. It made his heart clench, but he forced himself to ignore it. Tsuna and him weren't friends. The oblivious life was so much better. Facing the truth hurt a lot more. He just wanted to go back to being oblivious. He couldn't handle this.

Then came the day he wasn't ready for. They were in the lesson right before lunch when the classroom door opened and in came the person that Yamamoto didn't want to see: Tsunayoshi. When the boy was done muttering apologies to his sensei, he turned around to face the class. For a moment, his eyes connected with Yamamoto's before he was bowing his head and walking to his desk. As he was walking, one of the boys, Kane, stuck his foot out and tripped Tsuna. Only Yamamoto's sharp eyes helped him to see it.

Tsuna painfully pulled himself back up and continued to his desk without a word or glance at the boy. He didn't utter a single sound about being tripped. He didn't even cry in pain.

Their sensei, Mina, just sighed at her student's clumsiness. She hadn't noticed the foot that tripped him. When the boy was at his seat, she turned back to the board to continue on with the lesson.

Tsuna kept his head down, wrote his notes, and did the problems assigned. Maybe it was a bad idea to come back to school.

At lunch, he was assaulted with jeers from his classmates and had insults thrown at him. The boys who beat him up dared to say to his face that he hadn't come to school because he was at home crying over his injuries. How pathetic, they said. Tsuna didn't reply to any of it. He didn't even look up from his lunch until it was snatched from him by one of the boys who punched him the other day. Sighing, he looked up at the boy with a bored expression. He pushed away from his desk, sent them a frown, and left the class. As he was leaving, he glanced at Yamamoto, but the boy wasn't looking at him. He was avoiding looking at him. It hurt him, but it was for the best. They were from different worlds after all.

Since recess was after lunch, all the kids were taken to the playground outside. Tsuna left his classmates to go sit on the swing by himself. He either sat on a swing or went and sat under a tree for recess. That was all he ever did. He sat there and watched his classmates playing with each other. None of them ever let Tsuna play with them. He was the oddball out apparently, even though he didn't know what he did to earn such a title.

Since he was distracted by watching the students having fun, Tsuna didn't notice the boy sneaking up behind him. It wasn't until he felt two hands push him roughly and the ground was speeding into his face that he realized anything. He threw his hands out in front of him to protect his face, which caused his hands to get scraped up a bit, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He rolled over to his back to see himself looking into the face of Ohmae and a few of his buddies from class.

"What do you want, Ohmae?" Tsuna sighed.

Yamamoto looked towards where he hit the baseball, grimacing when he saw that it landed next to Tsuna. He didn't like what he saw. Tsuna was on the ground, staring up at Ohmae and a few other students from their class. His grip tightened on his baseball bat when he saw Ohmae slam his foot into Tsuna's chest, causing the boy to fall back over.

'_It's not my place. Not my place. We aren't acquainted. Not my place.'_ Yamamoto kept telling himself as he forced himself to look away, but not before seeing Tsuna getting punched in the face. He couldn't, wouldn't allow himself to get involved. Tsuna had explicitly told him to leave him alone.

"Going to cry, Fukitsu-Tsuna*****?" Kane sneered mockingly at Tsuna, who sat up without a word to the boys and kept his head down.

"Fukitsu-Tsuna?" Ohmae asked, smirking. "I like it. Nice one, Kane."

"It fits perfectly, doesn't it, Fukitsu?" Kane asked, laughing along with his friends.

Tsuna said nothing. He just kept his head down, hoping the boys would leave.

Not liking that he was ignored, Kane grabbed Tsuna's hair and forced him to look up. "I asked you a question, Fukitsu-Tsuna." He snarled. When Tsuna continued to look at him blankly, the boy got irritated and punched him in the stomach. Groaning, Tsuna grabbed his stomach that had just recently healed from the last time he was hit there.

Why? Why was it always him?

While the children thought they were free from adult eyes, they didn't know that a man was watching them from the spot where he had hidden himself. The moment Tsuna left their house for school hours late, he followed the boy in secret. He knew about the bullying the boy faced ever since he started training Giotto, but he never interfered in it because Tsuna asked that he never mention it to anyone. He hated that decision, but it was what Tsuna wanted. He hated watching the little Sky being beat up like this. The bullying had never been physical before a few days ago. The bullying had gotten worse and it angered him beyond belief. Even if Giotto didn't want to admit it, Tsuna was a member of the Vongola Famiglia. So it angered him so much that these people, these lowly people, were beating the little brother of the future boss of the Vongola. They had no right.

"Scum like you doesn't belong here." One of the girls, Ayako, sneered down at him.

Reborn felt himself grip his gun tightly. How dare she? How dare that girl say such a thing to that boy? Haven't they done enough damage to him?

Most likely for pleasure, Kane slammed his foot into Tsuna's stomach one last time before leaving with his laughing friends.

Being hit so many times in the same spot caused great pain for Tsuna. So much, that he started coughing violently. The pain filtered up to his throat where he could only release it as a pained cough. He covered his mouth, desperately trying to hide the fact that he was coughing in pain. He didn't want to give those boys the pleasure. From covering his mouth, he felt the blood running down his face from when he got punched. He pinched his nose, hoping to get the blood flow to stop.

Reborn watched as Tsuna got up after being hit. He was calm and didn't show that he was in pain. The way he took it caused pride to swell up in him. That boy was stronger than people gave him credit for. They could push him all they want, but he never cried in pain. He didn't show others that he was in pain. He wouldn't show them any weakness.

The moment that school was over, Tsuna was gone. He had packed his stuff and was running to get home. What he didn't expect was the man in the black suit waiting for him at the end of the block. He slowed to a stop and stared at him warily. "Why aren't you with my brother, Reborn-san?"

"He has his guardians." Reborn replied, eyeing the blood on Tsuna's face. Why was it still there? Shouldn't his teacher have told him to get cleaned up when she saw the blood on his? Unless, the teacher didn't see it or ignored it. Anger crept up inside of Reborn. Just what type of school was this boy attending?

Tsuna took a step back. He understood the meaning, after having been around the man for three years. His brother had his guardians, who did he have? No one. "I'm fine, Reborn-san." He muttered, looking down at his feet.

"If you want to lie well, look at the other person in the eye and be confident about what you are saying." Reborn scolded. He grabbed Tsuna's shoulder and forced the boy to walk in the direction of their house.

Tsuna blinked in confusion as he looked up at the man. "Reborn-san?"

"You haven't talked to me in weeks." Reborn commented, still eyeing Tsuna's blood covered face.

Tsuna shrugged, rubbing at his face in the hope to get rid of the blood that Reborn was staring at.

"I wouldn't think anything of it, but it started right after I told you I was a hitman. Has that made you uncomfortable around me?" Reborn asked, though he didn't really care all that much. As a hitman, he didn't have feelings. He was only loyal to the Vongola, which included its heirs. Tsuna was one of those heirs, even if he wouldn't get to be successor because of his brother.

"I'm still getting used to the idea." Tsuna replied.

"The best way to face a situation you aren't comfortable with is to face it head on, not ignore it for weeks." Reborn lectured, making Tsuna groan. He hated it when Reborn decided to lecture him on stuff. He was not the student who was to be a mafia boss. That was his brother. "Like when you face those bullies. You allow them to mock you, beat you. You do not run. Even if you didn't fight back, you stayed there and took it."

Tsuna tensed and attempted to pull away from the hitman, but Reborn tightened his grip on his shoulder to keep him still. "Re-Reborn-san, w-were yo-you sp-spying on m-m-me?"

"What have I told you about stuttering in the past?" Reborn growled.

"N-no-not to d-do it." Tsuna replied, but he couldn't help it when Reborn got like this.

"So why are you doing it?" Reborn demanded.

Tsuna ducked his head. "Sorry."

Reborn smacked Tsuna's head. "Do you forget all my lessons when you face something you don't want to face?"

"Face it with confidence, act as if nothing is wrong, be strong." Tsuna said monotonously, having had the lesson drilled into his head. Reborn had wanted him to at least know a few things to keep him safe and keep him from being an embarrassment to the family.

Reborn pushed Tsuna into his house. The boy called his customary greeting as he removed his shoes. His mother didn't even get to greet him before Reborn was pushing him up the stairs and to his room. In his room, Reborn pushed him onto the bed and left the room. Confused as to what the hitman was doing, Tsuna stood up and peeked his head out the door to watch the hitman go into the bathroom. A moment later the hitman came out with a wash cloth.

Tsuna groaned. "Reborn-san, I'm fine. You don't have to."

"Shut up, kid, and sit down."

Tsuna mutely sat down. The tone Reborn used was the one which told him not to argue. He watched the hitman close the door and sat next to him on the bed. The hitman grabbed his face and cleaned the blood off it with a wet rag. Noticing some blood on his neck, he cleaned that up to before throwing the bloody rag on the table in the room. "Remove your shirt."

Tsuna grimaced. "Were you watching me?" He muttered, pulling the shirt over his head.

"You are just as much my charge as your brother." Reborn said, eyeing the purple bruises on his chest and stomach. "I'm going to get you ice for that. Are you in any pain?"

Tsuna shook his head.

Reborn raised a brow, but didn't comment.

Tsuna leaned back against the wall as Reborn left, taking the blood wash cloth with him. He wasn't surprised that the hitman knew. He knew from that start that he was bullied, but Tsuna made him promise to never tell anyone because he didn't want his brother to know. He would have freaked and become even worse with his over-protectiveness.

It didn't take long for Reborn to return with a towel and bags of ice in hand. "Lie on your back." He ordered.

As Tsuna did so, he glanced at the hitman with a frown. "You're not going to tell Gio-nii, are you?" He asked worriedly.

"No." Reborn answered shortly. He kneeled next to the bed and looked more closely at the bruises. Carefully he put a hand on the one on his stomach and pushed gently down on it. A small hiss of pain came from Tsuna when he did that, causing him to nod. "These aren't too bad." He threw the towel over Tsuna chest and stomach, then laid the ice bags on him. "Keep those on for fifteen minutes."

"Thanks for the help, Reborn-san." Tsuna muttered quietly.

Reborn gave a small snort. "Nothing to thanks. As I've said, you are just as much my charge as your brothers, little sky."

Tsuna blinked in confusion when he heard the name. He glanced up at Reborn, but the hitman was already gone from the room. _'Little sky?'_

With Reborn gone, Tsuna turned his eyes to the ceiling. He didn't want to cry, but he couldn't help the few tears that fell from his eyes. He knew it was his fault, but it still hurt. Even though he told Yamamoto to stay away, he was desperately hoping the boy would ignore his words and come help him, save him, but he didn't. He had avoided Tsuna all day and it hurt so much. More than anything, he realized he wanted, no needed a friend in Yamamoto, but it just couldn't happen. He couldn't ruin his life like that.

Time flew by for Tsuna and for Yamamoto. Both of them attended school, but were in their own little worlds.

Yamamoto continued his baseball and hanging out with those boys who only liked him for his skill at the game. The feeling of having false friends and acting cheerful did not hurt as much anymore. That was because he had been hurt beyond repair by a certain brown haired boy. Tsuna hurt him more than any of his false friends could. He became his friend and then dumped him a day later, shooting harsh words at him. That kind of damage hurt more than any of his false friends could do to him.

He tried to stop it, but he couldn't. Often, he would look to where Tsuna was. Every time he did that, his heart would clench a bit. The boy was always sitting by himself with his head down or being bullied by someone or other times, he was covered in blood and prodding at his injuries. And every time, Yamamoto would die a bit inside. He wanted to approach Tsuna, but he just couldn't do it. Tsuna told him to stay away and as much as Yamamoto wanted to break that order as he called it, he couldn't. He was too scared too. He didn't want to hear those harsh words coming from Tsuna again. He felt that if he did hear them, he would surely die. Being hurt by Tsuna hurt a hundred times worse than being hurt by anyone else.

His dad noticed immediately that something was wrong with him, but every time he asked, Yamamoto just brushed it off saying that nothing was wrong. He didn't want his dad to be concerned with this. What he didn't realize that with each fake smile he gave his dad, Tsuyoshi got more and more worried about his son. He had a feeling it had something to do with that boy, Tsuna, who brought such a bright grin to his son's face. That same boy that he hasn't seen since that day. He tried mentioning him to his son and when he did, he saw pain filter into his son's eyes and knew that something had happened. Something happened and it wasn't being fixed. They were both hurting very much because of something.

As for Tsuna, he got into a habit of skipping school or coming in for the second half of the school day or just come in but leave early. It was very rare for him to stay at school for a whole day now. Whenever he came in, he was always picked on and bullied. He would go home covered in blood and bruises. With the help of Reborn, he hid it all, but he could tell that the hitman was angry with what was going on. He never commented on it though. He knew Reborn wouldn't mention anything of what was going. Though, the longer it went on, the rougher Reborn got when he was treating his injuries. He was getting furious with all the bullying.

It wasn't only Reborn that was concerned either. Tsuna often had to face his brothers and sister. They had no idea of what was going on since Reborn expertly made sure that all of Tsuna's injuries were hidden. It started to happen so much that Tsuna started to learn how to hide them all on his own and his own medical experience began to rise, even if it was only for small injuries, though Reborn did teach him how to stitch up some injuries for the rare times that the cuts were too deep. There was also his mother who was getting upset about all the school he was missing. She tried talking to him, but he didn't listen. Why would he? His mother didn't know what he was going through at school. He just didn't want to hear her lectures telling him that he couldn't keep skipping school, that it was looking bad on his record, when she had no idea of what he went through at school.

She really had no idea that each time he went to school he was bullied. All the injuries, all the loneliness, all the stares he sent at Yamamoto, all the time being ignored by his own teacher. She knew none of it. Mina-sensei ignored him. She's seen the bruises. She's seen the blood. She's heard the name Fukitsu-Tsuna. Tsuna knows that she has, but she just ignores it. Even his own teacher hated him and thought he would get nowhere in life. How could he blame her? Ever since the bullying has gotten physical, his grades had been dropping tremendously. Even with Reborn trying to tutor him to keep his grades up during all this, nothing was sinking in.

If it wasn't for Reborn holding him back, Giotto would have snapped and approached his brother to find out what was wrong. He either kept him too busy to get to his brother or gave him a harsh lecture as to why he couldn't approach him. It took a lot of restraint from Giotto to not snap and kill his tutor so he could get to his little brother. His guardians, Elena, and Dino were having a hard time as well. None of them liked seeing Tsuna so miserable. They had all grown incredibly fond of the little sky in the past few years. He was like a little brother to all of them and they were so upset that they could do nothing to help him.

This is how it went for months. It looked like both boys were going to fall forever, but something happened to change that fate.

That something was that it finally went too far.

**A/N: Fukitsu- bad luck**

**I swear, there will only be one more chapter with this angst and sadness. It was supposed to end in this chapter, but, obviously, it didn't. I just need one more chapter to get their friendship sealed…..maybe….it might be two now that I think about it.**

**Please Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**I am so veeeerrrrryyyyy bored. B-O-R-E-D. Bored. Today is such a boring day with absolutely nothing to do. It's so boring. I wish something would happen. ARGH! **

**Anyway, I am updating this because I already had it proofread a few days ago and plus, I AM BORED! So bored. Will die of boredom if this day does not end. BORED. Even writing cannot solve my boredom because I don't want to write at the moment, nor do I want to even think about writing. Life is sooooo boooorrrrriiiinnnngggg. **

**By the way, I start college tomorrow so my writing will probably slow down. **

**I'm still bored.**

**Just thought I'd point that out. **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! **

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

**Precious Sky**

**Chapter 6**

He saw red. He made a lunge for that demonic hitman that was his tutor, but like always, his friends had grabbed him and pulled him back. Someone, most likely G., had wrapped his arms around his torso to keep him back. Knuckle was in front of him, pushing him back from the tutor. Right now, though, he didn't have eyes for his guardians. He was too intent on breaking free from them to kill the stupid hitman that has ruined his brother.

"How could you?" Giotto yelled, trying to push Knuckle off him. "How the hell could you let this go on? This was no trial! You were ruining his life!"

Reborn had his head bowed so his fedora was covering his face. In truth, his eyes were staring at the small figure on the hospital bed that was being held by Elena. The female was hugging him gently to his chest so as not to upset his injuries. Tsuna, though, was staring at Reborn with an unreadable look. His eyes were dull with pain and sadness, but other than that, he had no idea of what the boy was thinking. All he knew was that things did not turn out the way they were supposed to.

*Six hours ago*

Tsuna was staring at the boys in front of him. They had once again cornered him during recess. Like always, he faced them, but did nothing to defend himself.

Ohmae grabbed him by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the wall. Tsuna gritted his teeth to keep from making any sound of pain. "Come on, Fukitsu-Tsuna. Cry like the baby you are." The boy sneered, punching Tsuna in the stomach.

Tsuna coughed violently, but didn't cry out. Instead he raised his head to glare defiantly at the bullies. "I'll never cry, Ohmae. You might as well just give up now."

"We'll see about that." Ohmae sneered and nodded to his friends.

Before Tsuna could realize what was happening, Kane had grabbed him by the arms and twisted them behind his back. Hayate then forced him down to his knees. Tsuna didn't see the point of this. He never ran when his classmates beat him up. Maybe they just wanted to have the pleasure of having Tsuna trapped when he submits to them.

Well they can forget it. No matter how many times this happens, he will never allow them to rule his life. He will forever defy them. _'Isn't that right, Reborn? Didn't you always say to never show weakness, never submit to your enemy? The moment you do, you have lost and they will always come back to get what they want. That is what you always said, right, Reborn?' _

A fist connected with Tsuna's stomach. He wanted to keel over and grab his stomach in pain, but Kane pulled him back up so his stomach would be exposed to Ohmae and Hayate. The two boys assaulted his stomach and chest with kicks and punches, but Tsuna never opened his mouth to scream in pain. He wanted to, but he couldn't give them the satisfaction so he bit down hard on his lip to keep from screaming. He was biting his lip so hard that he started to draw blood, but he didn't care. All he wanted, cared about, was beating them in their little game.

As more hits connected with his stomach, pain flared up inside of Tsuna. Breathing became so difficult for him. Each time he let out a breath, his chest expanded and cried in pain as all his injuries were forced to expand. Another fist connected to his stomach. This one caused him to fall forward slightly and cough violently. His body had taken so many hits to the stomach that he was coughing up blood. The coughing hurt so much that he could only keep one eye open. His other eye was staring at the blood that was starting to form a puddle on the ground.

Apparently his torturers didn't like his lack of attention to them as Hayate grabbed his hair harshly and forced his head back so he was staring into his eyes. Hayate snarled when he saw those defiant brown eyes. "I don't like that look in your eye, Fukitsu-Tsuna."

"Get used to it. My eyes aren't changing for you." Tsuna retorted.

"Well, it seems someone still hasn't learned his place." Ohmae sneered. He slammed his fist into Tsuna's cheek, causing the boy's head to snap to the side. It was only because he was so used to this that he managed to keep from groaning in pain, though he still wasn't used to the dizziness that came when his head was hit. Black dots began to swarm his visions like always, but he forced himself to remain conscious. He would not succumb to these bullies.

But as more kicks and punches met his body, he wasn't sure how much longer he could last. These stupid bullies never went this far. What were they doing? Why were they being worse today? Nothing out of the ordinary had happened today. So why was it so much worse?

Black.

His vision was going almost completely black. The only thing keeping him conscious at this moment was the fact that he kept coughing up blood. He couldn't stop coughing. It hurt so much. Everything hurt, but the coughing made it hurt a hundred times worse. Maybe he was wrong. He couldn't handle this. He should have submitted to him, but he just couldn't do it. It would disappoint Reborn if he did something stupid like that.

Just as he was ready to completely fall into darkness, he heard something he thought would never happen.

"What are you doing?"

It was that voice that had Tsuna forcing his eyes open to stare in disbelief at the figure that had found him. A tall figure, one that was glaring at the boys. That glare scared them enough to drop him to the ground and go running away.

Tsuna stayed lying on his side. He was in too much pain to get up this time. All he could do was stare at his savior in gratitude because he didn't think those boys would ever stop. "Alaude-nii." He whispered, voice hoarse from all his harsh coughing.

The blond hair teen kneeled next to him. "Shh. Don't talk, Tsuna. I'm going to call an ambulance to come pick you up, okay?"

Tsuna grabbed Alaude's pants so he couldn't move. "Why?" He croaked. "Why are you here?"

"Nothing escapes my information network, little sky."

Tsuna's attention became even greater when he heard that name. He only heard that name from Reborn once. After that one time, it was never said again until now. What did that name mean? Why did they call him it?

"I just never told because you needed to grow on your own." Alaude paused as he took out his cell phone. Before dialing the number, he looked down at Tsuna with a frown. "But it's gone too far."

Tsuna's hand was pried away from Alaude's pants by a bigger hand. His eyes slowly moved to the man that had joined them: Reborn. "You're still watching me?" Tsuna muttered.

Alaude's eyes snapped to Reborn at Tsuna's words. That damn hitman had been watching Tsuna and did nothing about the bullying? Oh, they would be hell to pay later. But for now, getting Tsuna out of here was more important.

It wasn't long until an ambulance had shown up at the school, confusing the students and teachers. They were all ignored though as Alaude approached the ambulance with a bloodied Tsuna in his arms. He was filled with anger when he heard some of the kids mutter about "Fukitsu-Tsuna" and how he deserved what he got. Those kids understood nothing. They were just cruel.

As the paramedics got Tsuna situated on the gurney, Alaude turned to the boy's teacher, Mina, with an indifferent look, while on the inside he was burning with rage. They were many people who had to pay.

"I will meet you at the hospital then, Alaude." Reborn said when he saw where the Cloud guardian was looking.

*End*

After that, Tsuna was rushed to the hospital. While he was in the waiting room, Reborn called Giotto's school and told the school to release him and all his guardians, Dino, and Elena from school immediately. When they all reached the hospital, they demanded to know what happened, but it wasn't until Alaude showed up that they learned. Reborn refused to give them information as Tsuna was still in the trial. Being the home-tutor, he couldn't interfere so it was a blessing to him when Alaude showed up to stop those boys.

That was Reborn's reply when he was asked why he didn't interfere. Of course the answer was met with anger. Both of his students were yelling that Tsuna wasn't his student to train. They were wrong. He was not training the boy to be a mafia boss, but he was helping him grow. He was part of the Famiglia so Tsuna was just as much his responsibility as were Giotto and Dino.

The real anger wasn't released until Tsuna was out of surgery and in his room. It didn't take long for him to wake up and be smothered by Elena. But upon seeing those dull eyes on his little brother, Giotto had finally lost it and wanted to kill Reborn.

*Five hours ago*

What Alaude, Tsuna, and Reborn didn't notice was the little black haired boy in the bushes. He had come over looking for the baseball he lost when he stumbled upon the three boys gaining up on Tsuna like usual, but what was different this time was that they weren't stopping. They were going too far.

Yamamoto stared at it all in horror. His heart was beating ferociously against his ribcage. It was yelling at him to go over there right now and stop this. If no one stopped them, they were going to kill the boy. He desperately wanted to approach like always, but those words from Tsuna constantly rang in his head.

"_I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to be seen with you. I don't want anything to do with you, Yamamoto. Go away and leave me alone forever. I don't need you. I can take care of myself." _

What was he meant to do? Tsuna didn't want his help. But watching all this for months was driving him insane. Why did he ever listen to Tsuna? What was he meant to do? He was so confused. He had no idea of how friends were supposed to handle something like this.

'_But that was just it, isn't it, Takeshi?'_ Yamamoto's mind said to him. _'You aren't friends. You were never friends. How could you two ever be friends? You're popular, surrounded by people who like you, and have a great skill at baseball. What does he have? He has nothing. You'll have nothing if you're with him.'_

Yamamoto clutched his head, desperately wishing for his traitor brain to shut up. Did any of that truly matter? What was more important in life? Was his reputation more important than someone's life?

Before Yamamoto could even come up with an answer, he heard a quiet voice snarl, "What are you doing?"

He looked up to see a teenager with blond hair and sharp blue eyes glaring at the boys who were beating up Tsuna. At the scary expression on his face, they dropped Tsuna roughly to the ground and ran away. The scary teenager didn't follow them though. Instead he dropped to Tsuna's side and they spoke quietly to each other. He watched as another man approached them and peeled Tsuna's hand off of the blond haired man's pants.

He watched them until Tsuna was picked up and carried to the ambulance that had arrived. That man gave Tsuna to them then turned to Mina-sensei. He glared so hatefully at her that it made shivers run down his spine. He didn't blame the man for being mad though. Mina-sensei always ignored the fact that Tsuna was covered in blood and bruises whenever he came back to class after lunch or recess or breaks.

Not wanting to stick around anymore after all that, Yamamoto ran to his class, grabbed his stuff, and ran from the school, pulling a Tsuna. He ran and ran until he reached home.

His father was shocked when he barged into the restaurant. He stopped what he was doing and looked at his son, who was glancing around the restaurant frantically to make sure he wouldn't bother anyone. Seeing only two people there at the moment, he approached the bar and sat down, staring at his father, who was worried when he saw his son was extremely pale.

Tsuyoshi put his knife down. "Are you ready to tell me what's been going on the last four months?"

"I'm sorry, Dad. I just don't know what to do." Yamamoto replied. He leaned on the counter and buried his face in the palm of his hands.

"Start by telling me what's wrong." Tsuyoshi suggested.

"It's Tsuna." Yamamoto whispered.

Tsuyoshi nodded his head, having already guessed that. "Go on."

"The day after we met, I found out that all my classmates tease him and insult him daily. I defended him, but Tsuna got mad and said I shouldn't destroy my life by trying to help him. After that, Tsuna got beat up by a few boys in my class. Now they call him Fukitsu-Tsuna. They say if you hang with him, you get all types of bad luck. Ever since that day, he skips school, leaves early, or comes in late. Every time he does come, he gets bullied, beaten up, and our sensei doesn't do anything. She doesn't see it, but she sees the bruises and blood after it happens. She doesn't care what happens to him." Yamamoto explained bitterly.

"What about you? What have you done?" Tsuyoshi prompted.

Yamamoto glanced up at his dad to show his pain filled and regretful eyes. "Nothing. I've done nothing, dad. The first day, I went to talk to him, but he yelled at me to stay away from him and he wanted nothing to do with me. I listened, but I could never go back to being oblivious to everything that happened to him. Every time it happens, I see it. I see all sneers, jeers, punching, kicking. He takes it all. He never runs. He never fights back. He accepts all the bullying and it kills me that he doesn't want my help. He won't let anyone help him. He doesn't even report it. And today…" He paused to bury his face his hands to hide his sob, but his dad still heard it. "To-today it went too far. T-th-they went to-too far. He….oh god….he's in the hospital now. And I don't know what to do! Help me!"

"Takeshi, I can't tell you what to do." Tsuyoshi said, crushing the hopeful look that the boy had given his dad. In truth, he wanted to do so much. He couldn't believe that this is what was going on for the last few months. Both boys needed so much help and he wanted to give it, but he couldn't. These boys had to fix this themselves. "You have to figure that out for yourself. The only way for you to know what to do is by listening to your heart. What is it that you want?"

What is it…..?

Takeshi stared blankly at his father. What was it he wanted?

_Yamamoto glanced up from his lunch to see a filthy Tsuna coming in the class. His clothes were covered in dirt and blood. When he raised his head, Yamamoto saw the strange orange tint in those eyes again. It made Yamamoto wonder what those eyes meant. To him, Tsuna was a mystery. Something he wanted to learn all about. _

_*K*H*R*_

_Chuckling slightly, Tsuna scratched the back of his head. "Well, my brothers are being annoying. They keep insisting I'm going to be kidnapped the moment they take their eyes off me so I'm escaping from their protective grasp." _

"_Sounds intriguing." Takeshi said with a chuckle. "Can I play your little game?" _

_*K*H*R*_

_Light brown eyes stared in horror when they saw Horio kick Tsuna harshly in the ribs one last time before the boys left the boy on the ground. Yamamoto almost took a step forward when Tsuna pushed himself up, spatting blood out of his mouth. He raised his head and his eyes connected with Yamamoto's. They were glaring at him, saying to stay the hell away._

_He wanted so badly to defy those eyes and approach the boy, but before he could resolve himself to do it, the bell to end recess sounded. In the chaos of students rushing to get to class, Yamamoto lost sight of Tsuna and he didn't see him for the rest of the day._

_*K*H*R*_

_Tsuna rubbed his head sheepishly. "Um, I don't have any friends." _

_Yamamoto blinked. "Seriously? Why not? You seem nice, just a bit quiet." _

"_Because I spend more time being an observer than joining in." Tsuna explained quietly. _

_*K*H*R*_

_He watched. He knew. Not a single student ever approached Tsuna. How could he never notice this before? Unless it was to bully or mock him, no one went near him. Even Mina-sensei ignored him, unless it was to yell at him for missing so much class or not paying attention when he was here. She got into a habit of embarrassing him in front of their class. This caused anger to bubble up inside of Yamamoto. She wasn't helping him. She was just making everything worse for him. _

_*K*H*R*_

"_Hello, Takeshi." Yamamoto's dad's eyes paused on the brown haired boy with his son. "Ah, greetings, young one. I am Yamamoto Tsuyoshi."_

"_Sawada Tsunayoshi." Tsuna gave the older gentleman a bow. "It is nice to meet you, Yamamoto-san." _

"_Dad, Tsuna and I are playing a game. We're going upstairs, kay?" Yamamoto asked._

_*K*H*R*_

_This wasn't how it was supposed to be. His classmates weren't supposed to be this cruel. He was walking with some friends behind Tsuna when one of them "accidentally" bumped into Tsuna when he was in front of the stairs. Yamamoto jumped forward by instincts to grab Tsuna, but his hand missed and the boy fell down the stairs. With each thud, Yamamoto winced. _

"_Tsuna." Yamamoto whispered in horror when Tsuna finally landed in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the stairs. _

_Tsuna struggled to push himself off the ground. It took a few minutes but he finally got up, wiping the blood from his mouth. "Stop, Yamamoto-kun." He whispered back, not that anyone would have noticed anyway. _

_Yamamoto stared at Tsuna as the boy limped away in the direction of their class, not even bothering to go to the infirmary. When he was gone from sight, he glanced over his shoulder at the students that saw Tsuna get pushed down the stairs to see that they were laughing. His hands curled into fists. He wanted so badly to slam his fist into the face of the one who pushed Tsuna. Pushing someone down the stairs was dangerous. _

_*K*H*R*_

_To Tsuna's surprise, Yamamoto started laughing. He was laughing so hard that he fell forward and buried his face in Tsuna's shoulder. His whole body was shaking with his laughter. "O-one person, Tsuna. Name one person who would be my friend if not for popularity or because of my skills in baseball." _

"_Me." Tsuna said quietly without an ounce of hesitation. "I'll be your friend." _

_*K*H*R*_

"_You do not insult Tsuna ever again, got it? He has never done anything to you and you know nothing about him. He is a much better person then you."_

"_Takeshi!" Tsuna shouted in dismay, jumping up from his seat. "Please, stop. You don't have to waste your time defending me." _

"_I'll say he shouldn't. Nothing good ever comes from associating yourself with an idiot like Sawada." Ohmae sneered, despite the fear he was feeling of Takeshi so it either made him really brave or really stupid. _

_*K*H*R*_

"_I think not. If anyone shall be leader, it shall be me, Takeshi!" Tsuna argued mockingly, grinning at his first friend. _

_Takeshi stood up and bowed to Tsuna. "Of course. I am deeply sorry for undermining you, boss." _

_When Tsuna's and Takeshi's eyes met, they both burst out laughing. "Boss!" Tsuna cried, grabbing his sides as he laughed so much. "That's a good one. Neither of us will ever be a boss." _

_*K*H*R*_

"_Your reputation will be ruined because of a nobody." Tsuna answered. _

"_Tsuna," Takeshi said desperately. "We are friends. I can't just sit back and watch you get hurt. And don't try to say you're used to the teasing and it doesn't hurt. I saw the pained expression you were trying to hide earlier when Ohmae started." _

_Tsuna bit his bottom lip and glanced at Ohmae, who was glaring angrily at him as if blaming him for this surprise turn of events. "I just don't want to be the reason that your life becomes ruins. I am a no-good invalid that messes up everyone's lives." He said quietly. _

_*K*H*R*_

_Takeshi grabbed Tsuna by the neck and pulled him closer to him. "Tsuna and I are best friends now, Dad." _

_*K*H*R*_

_Tsuna snorted. "You laugh because you think I am joking." _

"_Tsuna, there is no tutor like that out there." Takeshi said once he got his laughter under control. _

"_You say that because you haven't met Reborn." Tsuna retorted. _

"_I think you've been reading too many mangas." Takeshi quipped. _

_Tsuna raised a brow. "You say that because you haven't met Reborn." _

"_Is that going to be your answer to everything?" Takeshi asked, raising a brow in amusement._

_Tsuna blinked up at his friend, but allowed a small smirk to grace his features. "You say that because you haven't met Reborn." _

"_That one doesn't even make sense!" Takeshi half-shouted. _

"_You say that because you haven't met Reborn." Tsuna commented. _

"_Neither does that!" _

"_You say th–"_

"_You say that one more time, I swear I'll," Takeshi paused to think of a threat. He didn't know Tsuna all too well since they only met yesterday, but he knew one thing about the boy. He liked being a quiet observer. "I'll make you the center of attention and make you talk to everyone and be distracted from your observations and dragged you around so people will swarm around you, not giving you any space." _

_Tsuna shuddered. "I don't like my personal space being disrupted, Takeshi." _

_The taller boy looked at his arm which was still wrapped around Tsuna's shoulder and removed it. He didn't realize he was making his new friend uncomfortable because his personal space was invaded. _

_Surprisingly though, Tsuna just glanced up at his friend with a frown. "By strangers, Takeshi. I don't mind family and friends being in it cause I can trust them not to harm me. You're a friend, Takeshi."_

_A grin broke out on Takeshi's face as he threw his arm back over Tsuna's shoulder. _

_*K*H*R*_

_Did any of that truly matter? What was more important in life? Was his reputation more important than someone's life? Was being popular more important than having true friends?_

_No. It never was. He always knew that, but he always convinced himself it was so he could honor Tsuna's wish and stay away. _

_But seeing that bloody body of Tsuna being carried away to an ambulance, he realized he was wrong all along. He should have ignored Tsuna's cry to leave him alone and helped him. Tsuna needed all the help he could offer and he ignored him. _

_He was a horrible person!_

_*K*H*R*_

"I want Tsuna." Yamamoto's muffled voice cried. "I need him back. Being around him was the most fun I ever had. I need my friend back."

Tsuyoshi allowed himself a brief smile before it disappeared and he bopped his son on the head to get him to look at him. Giving his son a stern look, he said, "Sitting here crying isn't going to get him back."

***Precious*Sky***

That was how Yamamoto found himself standing in front of the receptionist at the hospital. She was a kind woman that was more than happy to point him in the direction of Tsuna's room. Before he could head there though, she gave him a lecture of being quiet and to not make a ruckus because she didn't want to have to kick him out like she did to the last group that came to see him.

Yamamoto was at first confused when she said that a group of people came to visit Tsuna before he realized who she meant. No one at their school liked Tsuna. And Tsuna said he only interacted with his brother and his friends. So they had come to see him and caused a racket. Maybe it was because they didn't know about the bullying before?

Shrugging, Yamamoto entered the room. Tsuna was already small, but he looked even smaller in that big hospital bed with all the medical equipment around him.

The brown haired boy looked away from the window when he heard the door open. He turned to greet the person, but froze when he saw who was standing in the room with him. "Yamamoto-kun! What are you doing here?"

***Precious*Sky***

"Mom?"

Nana looked up from folding the laundry to smile at her oldest son. "Hey Giotto. How was school?"

Giotto didn't smile like he usually did when his mother asked how his day was. He walked over to the table and stopped her from folding the towel by putting a hand on top of it. "Mom, Tsuna is in the hospital. It seems–"

Nana's smile fell from her face, leaving her to stare in horror at her eldest. She knew something had been wrong with her youngest for the past few months, but whenever she tried to talk to him, he always brushed it off as if nothing was wrong. He just wouldn't talk to her so she let it go. Why did she do that? She should have tried harder to help her son!

"Mom," Giotto whispered, brushing away a stray tear that fell from his mother's eyes. "He's been getting bullied horribly the past few months. These boys have been beating him up. They went too far today. If Alaude hadn't been passing by…." The blonde hair teen trailed off as he choked on his words. What would have happened if Alaude hadn't been there? He couldn't even think of that!

"Tsu-kun," Nana cried. "Not my Tsu-kun!"

"He's conscious. The doctor said he'll be fine." Giotto reassured her. She collapsed in his arms and sobbed for her little baby. Why hadn't she tried harder to help her baby? She noticed the drop in his grades and that fact that he barely went to school and when he did go, he didn't go for a full day. She noticed it all. Why hadn't she helped him more?

***Precious*Sky***

Yamamoto didn't reply. Instead, he approached the bed until he was standing next to Tsuna, who was following every single one of his moves. It hurt him to see Tsuna so wary of him. He just wanted the boy's trust. He had no reason to hurt him. Then again, neither did those boys from school. "No more. Tsuna, no more please."

"Ya–"

"Shut up." Yamamoto bowed his head so his eyes were hidden by his hair. "This time, Tsuna, I want you to shut up and listen to me."

It was mostly out of surprise that Tsuna shut his mouth and stared at Yamamoto. The only time he had ever heard the boy's voice this harsh was when he was scolding Ohmae for teasing him.

"Okay," Yamamoto took a deep breathe. "I listened to you. I stayed away from you. That was what you wanted. You wanted nothing to do with me. You didn't want me to defend you. You let those boys beat you up all the time. You are hardly at school anymore. And now, because of those same boys, you have been sent to the hospital. Mina-sensei doesn't even like you. She couldn't care less about your injuries. I may have not have been happy with my life, but I realize the obliviousness was great. I didn't have to see all the pain that others went through. I only had to see mine. But then you just had to appear in my life and open my eyes. Open my eyes to the fact that I wasn't alone. I was glad to learn I wasn't alone, but then you! You had to go and push me away and that hurt so much. You hurt me worse than all those false friends I have."

Tsuna winced. He hadn't meant to hurt Yamamoto so badly. He just didn't want to be the reason that his life was ruined. "I'm–"

"Tsuna, shut up. I'm not done." Yamamoto growled. "I listened to you. I ignored you. Now you have to listen to me. It. Was. A. Mistake!"

"Mistake?" Tsuna asked confused.

"Where are we?" Yamamoto asked.

"A hospital." Tsuna answered, even more confused. What was Yamamoto trying to get at?

"Exactly." Yamamoto said. "We are at a hospital because I made the mistake of not going through with my threat. I told Ohmae no one was to pick on you, but then, you told me to leave you alone so I did. I chose to ignore you, instead of stopping all those people from beating you up. And because of that, they went too far and sent you here. I'm sorry."

Tsuna stared at Yamamoto in shock. He was sorry? The once oblivious baseball star who was doing what Tsuna asked him to was sorry? "You have nothing to be sorry for." Tsuna muttered, still a bit shocked. "You were doing what I asked and ignored me. It was for the best."

"Why?" Yamamoto asked quietly, still not looking at Tsuna. "Why won't you be my friend? I need a real friend, Tsuna."

"Fukitsu-Tsuna." The boy replied.

Yamamoto's eyes snapped to Tsuna, hardening in anger. "That's why?" He asked, shaking with rage. "You've refused to be my friend because you let those idiots get to you! Don't listen to them, Tsuna. You aren't bad luck! All those bad things that happened to you were because of them! Ignore them. What they say doesn't matter."

Tsuna stared blankly at the boy. "Why do you care so much?"

"Because you saved me." Yamamoto replied, smiling at Tsuna. "And I've seen who you can become. Everyone else has no idea of who you can truly be because they are too busy degrading you. But I see it. I've seen the potential you have. I've experienced it. Tsuna, don't listen to them. Be that boy that I met when you were running from your brothers. That is who you truly are."

"That's easier said than done." Tsuna said bitterly.

Yamamoto blinked. "But you're already doing it. Even when those boys were beating you, you still defied them. You never submitted to them. You're stronger than you let yourself believe, Tsuna."

Tsuna glanced at him, giving a brief smile.

"And besides, I'll be there to help you." Yamamoto added, grinning at the surprised boy. "This time, I'll do it right. I'm sorry, Tsuna. I'll be a better friend this time."

**A/N: Once again, keep in mind, they are nine!**

**Please Review**!


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**Thanks to those who reviewed! **

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

**Precious Sky**

**Chapter 7**

"Gio-nii!" Tsuna whined. "Get off!"

Giotto snickered and buried his face even farther into Tsuna's hair. At the moment he was hugging his brother so tightly to him. He never wanted to let him go again if it meant that people were going to bully him again. "Don't wanna. I'm so glad you are home."

Tsuna allowed a smile to warm his features. His mother had just brought him home from the hospital. The moment he stepped through the door, he was assaulted with a big hug by his big brother. He patted his brother's cheek. "Everything's alright now."

"Not until I pull you out of that school it isn't." Nana corrected from behind her son.

Brown eyes widened in shock. Pull him out? He yanked himself out of his brother grip to look at his mother. "Pull me out? Why?"

Everyone stared at Tsuna in disbelief. He couldn't seriously believe they would let him continue to attend that school after all those students beat him up and his teacher did nothing to help him, could he?

"I will not have you attend a school where a teacher can't care for all her students." Nana replied, patting her son on the head. "I want you to stay safe."

'_Stay safe again? Am I not allowed to know the real world?'_ Tsuna thought bitterly. "Then where am I supposed to go to school?" He asked.

"I'm not sure yet." Nana replied.

"Actually, if I may," Reborn interrupted.

Nana glanced at him, giving him a smile and nod to tell him he may go on.

"He has already missed a lot of school these past few months. He will be very far behind if you were to just transfer him to a new school suddenly. I believe for the time being, homeschooling is the best option." Reborn explained.

Tsuna stared in horror at the hitman, but it seemed his over-protective brother and his mother agreed with the evil hitman as they were both nodding. This could not be happening to him! Things were finally beginning to look up and then they just come plummeting back down! Maybe he was Fukitsu-Tsuna after all…..No! Tsuna immediately erased that thought from his head. It was as Takeshi said. He couldn't allow himself to listen to those who tried to degrade him.

DING DONG!

"What?" Tsuna mumbled, surprised at the doorbell suddenly being rang. He peeked passed his mother to see who was at the door. Much to his surprise, it was a grinning Takeshi, who had a few bruises and scratches on his face and arms. "What happened to you?" He demanded.

"Yo, Tsuna!" Takeshi greeted cheerfully.

"Only you could be that cheerful when turning up at someone's house covered in blood and bruises." Tsuna said dryly. "Seriously, what happened?"

"Isn't that the boy that came here a few months ago?" Lampo asked his friends quietly.

Asari nodded. "Yeah, that's him. I wonder what he's doing back here."

"Well, do you remember four months ago when I made that threat?" Takeshi asked, still grinning.

Tsuna face-palmed. "Don't tell me you did what I think you did."

"But Tsuna," Takeshi whined. "They hurt you."

"That doesn't mean you resort to their ways." Tsuna scolded before grinning. "Who won anyway?"

Takeshi smirked. "I did, of course. I think I got the message across."

Tsuna grimaced. "It doesn't matter if you did or not. My mom is pulling me out of the school and homeschooling me."

The black haired boy's grin dropped. He blinked at Tsuna, then looked to his mother, who gave a sad smile as she ran her fingers through her youngest hair. "That's understandable, considering what happened." Takeshi said slowly. "But no fun, especially by yourself! Can I be homeschooled with you?"

Tsuna sweat dropped. His friend was so random and rash. It would be a surprise if he thought about what any of his actions would do.

He was distracted from his thoughts by a prodding in his side. He looked up to see his brother had returned to his side with a curious expression. "Who is he?"

"Oh," Tsuna started, but was interrupted by Takeshi.

"Sor-ry!" Takeshi said, stretching the word with a grin. "I'm Yamamoto Takeshi. I'm Tsuna's best friend in the whole world, right, Tsuna?"

Giotto looked at Reborn, then at Tsuna and Takeshi, then back to Reborn. "You're a demon. There is no doubt about it."

"Why is he a demon?" Takeshi mumbled to Tsuna, who shrugged.

"I've told you before, Takeshi. He's sadistic and takes pleasure in torturing his students." Tsuna mumbled back.

"What was that, Tsuna?" Reborn asked dangerously.

Tsuna yelped and hid behind Takeshi. "Nothing, Reborn-san!"

"Oooooh, that's Reborn." Takeshi said. He blinked as he examined the hitman. "He doesn't seem as bad as you make him out to be."

"You say that because you don't know him." Tsuna argued. He and Takeshi locked eyes and both laughed, sharing a joke that no one else got.

G. glared at the happy Takeshi. "Are you sure he can be trusted?" He growled. "Where was here when Tsuna was being bullied?"

Both boys were frozen stiff when they heard G.'s accusations. They were trying to forget the mistakes they both made in the past few months. Tsuna pushing Takeshi away and Takeshi listening to Tsuna and allowing him to be hurt, even though it hurt so much in his heart. Both of them made so many mistakes, but they didn't blame the other. Neither of them had a real friend before each other. They were allowed to have their mistakes.

Even so, Takeshi still felt incredibly guilty about not listening to his heart sooner. He felt that he could have stopped Tsuna from going to the hospital if he did. No, he knew he could have stopped it. Just mentioning his mistake caused him to go real pale and shake with guilt and anger at himself. How could he have been so stupid?

"G., stop it." To the surprise of all, the forceful voice came from Tsuna. The brown haired boy put a hand on Takeshi's shoulder and gave him a kind smile. "I trust Takeshi. That is all that matters."

Takeshi gave his friend a grateful smile in return and put a hand on top of Tsuna's that was on his shoulder. He gave it an appreciative squeeze.

"Leave it, G.," Giotto said when it looked like the redhead wanted to argue. "Look at them. They clearly trust each other a lot. We don't know fully what happened the past few months. Without that knowledge, we can't argue with them and try to decide what's best. Only those two know what's best and to them, this is for the best."

***Precious*Sky***

"Ah, I get it now, Tsuna."

Tsuna glanced up from his book to smirk at Takeshi, who was leaning back on his hands with a tired expression. "I told you he was a demon tutor. You can still escape and go back to school, you know."

Takeshi laughed. "No, I'll stay with you, Tsuna. I can't let you stay being taught by that demon alone."

"And baseball? You can't be on the team if you don't attend the school." Tsuna said quietly, looking back down at his book. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Takeshi grimace at the mention that he can't play the sport he loves.

"I'll keep practicing by myself. Maybe I'll find a junior league that doesn't require me being in a school." Takeshi replied, smiling reassuring when he caught Tsuna's eye. "No worries, besides I want nothing to do with that team. Half of that team bullied you."

"Enough chit-chat. Get back to work." Reborn said.

Takeshi sat up straight, eyes staring wide eyed at Tsuna. "Where'd he come from?" He mouthed at the boy.

Tsuna snickered, but immediately stopped with a ruler smacked him on the head. "Oi! Reborn-san!" He complained.

"You're not even halfway done with your math work." Reborn scolded.

"Alright, alright. I'm getting to it." Tsuna muttered. When Reborn was gone to leave them alone to study, he glanced at Takeshi and shared a grin with him. "At least it's never boring."

"Shh." Takeshi hushed him. "We'll get in trouble if we're caught talking."

Tsuna snickered. He was so lucky that Takeshi cared enough to come back and demand his friendship.

"_And besides, I'll be there to help you." Yamamoto added, grinning at the surprised boy. "This time, I'll do it right. I'm sorry, Tsuna. I'll be a better friend this time." _

_Tsuna turned onto his side and stared up at Yamamoto. "Don't beat yourself up. I'm the one who pushed you away to begin with." _

"_But I didn't have to listen. I should have come back. I should have defended you. Instead, I turned my back to you, even though I didn't want to." Yamamoto argued. _

"_Don't feel guilty, Yamamoto-kun. We're both at fault, kay?" Tsuna said kindly. _

"_I don't get how you do it." Yamamoto muttered. When Tsuna looked at him confused, he chuckled and grabbed Tsuna's hand. He gave it a squeeze. "After everything you've been through with them, how can you still be so kind and happy?" _

_Tsuna blinked. "Well, I'm actually not too sure." He replied, grinning sheepishly. "Maybe it's because I never allowed myself to submit to them. I remained strong and defied them. Or maybe I'm just always looking on the bright side. Things can't get much worse than this." _

"_And things will get better." Yamamoto added, smiling as he gave Tsuna's hand a squeeze. "Cause I'm here now and I'm not leaving again." _

"_What about my bad luck?" Tsuna asked. _

_Yamamoto grinned. "I don't believe in bad or good luck. I think we make our own luck in this world. And Tsuna?" _

"_Yeah, Yamamoto-kun?" _

"_It's Takeshi. Get it right already. I won't have my best friend calling me by my last name." _

"_Thank you, Take-kun." _

"Argh, Tsuna!"

Tsuna snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his friend, blinking. "What is it, Takeshi?"

Takeshi jerked his pencil at his paper. "Did you get number fourteen?"

Tsuna glanced down at his paper, chuckling slightly. "I'm only on twelve. I got distracted."

The black haired boy leaned on the table, staring at his friend with a grin. "You get distracted so easily. Reborn-san was just in here five minutes ago and you got distracted the moment he left. What does he have to do? Stand over you with a gun pointed at your head to get you to concentrate?"

"SHHH!" Tsuna said frantically, looking all around the room. "Don't give him ideas. He's already being so lenient on us."

"He's not even here." Takeshi pointed out, laughing. "And I can't believe this is his idea of lenient. I think I am scared of him now, Tsuna!"

Tsuna shook his head. "He's everywhere. He's always watching!"

"Getting a wee bit paranoid, aren't you, Tsuna?" Takeshi asked amused.

Tsuna leaned forward and grasp Takeshi's shirt in his hands and pulled him forward. "No, my friend. You are not paranoid enough when it comes to Reborn-san!"

"A bit crazy as well." Takeshi murmured, peeling Tsuna's hands off his shirt.

***Precious*Sky***

"Sawada-san!" Takeshi yelled, running into the kitchen where Nana was preparing lunch.

"Oh, Takeshi-kun," Nana scolded, lightly swatting the boy with a towel. "Don't call me that. Any friends of my sons can call me mama." When a distressed looked crossed the boy's face, Nana smiled and kneeled down to his height. She put a gentle hand on his head and ran her fingers gently through his hair. "I'm sure you mother wouldn't mind, Takeshi-kun." Her hand moved to his cheek to caress it in a gentle, loving way. "It's just a nickname. I'm not replacing your mother, but I will be here to help you whenever you need it."

Takeshi gave her a sweet smile. "Thank you, Mama."

"Now," Nana stood up and went back to preparing lunch. "What can Mama do for you?"

Grinning, Takeshi pointed at Tsuna, who was standing in frozen shock in the doorway of the kitchen. "Can Tsuna sleep over at my house tonight?"

"Well, that's up to Tsuna." Nana said, looking at her son with a bright smile. Ever since Takeshi showed up in his life, he has been much happier and was coming out of his shell. "Does Tsu-kun want to go to Takeshi-kun's tonight?"

Tsuna nodded his head. "Yes Mom. Can I really?"

"Of course, but don't cause any trouble for Yamamoto-san, okay?" Nana replied, giving her son a stern look.

"Thank you, Mom/Mama!" Two voices cheered, followed by two pairs of arms throwing themselves around Nana's waist. Nana happily threw an arm around each boy. Giotto and Tsuna may be her biological sons, but their friends were just as much family to her as her own flesh and blood.

Before she could process it, both boys had broken free and were running away back to Tsuna's room, most likely to pack. When they were gone, Reborn stepped into the kitchen with a frown. "Are you sure that was a wise decision, _Maiden_?"

Nana slammed down a spoon on the counter and glared at Reborn. "Reborn, I have told you countless times I am no longer that woman so I would appreciate it if you did not go around mentioning that at my house. I do not need Tsuna or Takeshi knowing about my former profession."

"This family needs to stop hiding things from the youngest." Reborn growled before leaving the kitchen.

"I know that Reborn, but I can't let my baby boy know any more than he already does. I don't want to lose both of my sons to that world."Nana said softly.

***Precious*Sky***

"Dad! I'm back!" Takeshi called when he entered the restaurant with Tsuna trailing after him with a bag on his shoulder. "Tsuna's here."

Tsuyoshi smiled at the boys. "Welcome back, Tsuna. It's been a long time since I last saw you."

Sheepishly, Tsuna scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry. Takeshi and I had some issues we had to work out, but it's all good now!"

"That's good to hear." Tsuyoshi looked at the bag that Tsuna was carrying. "Are you two having a sleepover?"

Takeshi nodded, grinning. "Is that alright, Dad?"

Tsuna, meanwhile, gave his friend a deadpanned looked. "You didn't even ask him if it was alright before you invited me?"

"Details, details." Takeshi replied, waving a hand at his friend.

"It's alright, Tsuna. I have no problem with you being here." Tsuyoshi told him, eyeing both of the boys in front of him with a small frown. "Are you sure everything is alright between you both? I would hate to have anything horrible happen again."

"No worries, Dad!" Takeshi said, grinning as he threw his arm over Tsuna's shoulders. "We're the best of friends. I won't let anyone hurt Tsuna again."

Tsuyoshi watched as Takeshi's grip on Tsuna's shoulder tightened so it was like a protective hold and smiled a bit. "I'm glad to hear that. Why don't you take Tsuna's stuff to your room? And when you come back, I'll have dinner ready for you two, including Tsuna's favorite–"

"Anago?" Tsuna asked excitedly.

When Tsuyoshi nodded his head, Tsuna cheered, but only for a second because Takeshi had started to drag him away to the back of the restaurant.

"Sad to say that my house isn't as full of life as yours is, but I think it's good to escape all that craziness once in a while." Takeshi commented to Tsuna as they were returning to the restaurant below. "There're no constant explosions, gunshots, yelling, sadistic tutors, or crazy fighting friends here."

"Nothing wrong with that. I could use a peaceful night." Tsuna replied, smiling at his friend as he pushed the curtains aside so he could get passed the doorway that led back to the restaurant. He had barely stepped a foot a back into the restaurant when, to his surprise, someone yelled his name.

"Sawada!"

And not that dreaded nickname from school.

Blinking, Tsuna looked to where the voice came from to see a boy his age getting up from a table, muttered something to his family who was with him and approached Tsuna and Takeshi. A little boy at the table, most likely his little brother, waved at the two boys before going back to his dinner.

Tsuna turned back to the boy who had stopped in front of him. The boy was a couple inches taller than him. He had messy black hair and bright blue eyes. He gave a kind smile at both boys.

"Ah, I remember you." Tsuna said, pointing at the boy. "You sat in the opposite back corner from me at school. Mido Kentaro." He turned to his friend. "Weren't you guys on the baseball team together?"

Takeshi nodded. "One of the few decent players on the team, though we never talked much until recently." He added sheepishly and a bit worriedly.

Tsuna's brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Mido-kun helped me beat up those boys who hurt you." Takeshi replied, rubbing the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Tsuna asked, frowning.

"He didn't want his name involved in it." Takeshi answered, shrugging. "Besides, did you really think I could take all those boys on by myself?"

"Oh." Tsuna said. "I guess I did. That's what I get for not thinking."

Mido motioned to an empty table. "Can we sit?"

Tsuna nodded and led the way to the empty table. He sat on one side with Takeshi seating on his left. Mido sat across from him.

"How are you?" Mido started.

"Fine." Tsuna replied, a bit surprised.

Mido nodded. "I'm glad to hear that. When I told Mina-sensei about you disappearing after lunch that first day, I had hoped she was going to pay more attention to the stuff happening in class."

"Huh?" Now both Tsuna and Takeshi were a bit confused. "What do you mean?"

Mido chuckled, a bit embarrassed if the redness in his cheeks was anything to go by. "Well, the first day the bullying got physical and the first day you left school early, I told Mina-sensei so she would notice you more and realize the bullying was going on." He stopped talking as the chuckles stopped. "But it seemed she wasn't the best person to go to. She didn't do anything, even when she saw you covered in blood and bruises."

Tsuna didn't reply. He just stared at the boy opposite him in complete confusion. No one had ever taken notice of him before. Even Takeshi didn't until that day they ran into each other outside of school. From the sound of it, Mido did take notice of him, but never approached him. He just watched from the sidelines, but didn't take pleasure in Tsuna's abuse. In fact, besides Takeshi, he was probably the only classmate that cared and noticed the pain Tsuna was going through.

But why?

Why did he notice it when no one else did?

"Um," Tsuna mumbled, catching Mido's attention once more. "Why do you care? Most people don't care about me at all or notice the pain I'm going through. What makes you different?"

"Let's see," Mido said thoughtfully. He tapped his chin as he thought. A minute passed, causing Takeshi and Tsuna to glance at each other then back at Mido. The boy looked passed the two best friends and at his family. Curious, Tsuna and Takeshi looked there too. Mido was staring at his little brother. "Let's say that I understand."

Even more confused, Tsuna looked back at Mido. "How can you understand? You were never bullied."

Mido shook his head, wearing a fond smile. "Not about that. As you see, I have a little brother. And for a few weeks before your bullying got physical, I noticed your brother and his friends picking you up from school. By the way they acted, it was obvious they were all fond of you. But the moment it started getting physical, they disappeared. I never saw them picking you up again. Of course I saw them come to the school to get you, but you were never there waiting anymore. You never told them about the bullying, did you?"

Tsuna shook his head. "I didn't want any of them to worry. They were….are so over-protective. I didn't think it could get much worse."

Mido snorted. "That was stupid of you." He said as if he was lecturing Tsuna. "A little fact, Sawada, no matter how bad something seems, it can either get better or it can get a lot worse. It can always get a lot worse. Remember that, kay? And even if they are a bit over-protective, they still want to know. They would have been even more scared and worried, not knowing what was wrong."

Takeshi frowned, leaning forward slightly on the table. "You speak as if you know what his brother was going through." He gazed intently at Mido.

Sighing, Mido nodded. "I do." He cast a sad smile passed the two boys at his little brother. "My little brother is sick. He has leukemia. I was beside myself with fear when he first fell ill. I thought I was going to lose him when he first collapsed."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Tsuna said, truly feeling bad for the boy. "Is he getting better?"

"I hope so, but he still needs treatment. He has to go back." Mido replied. "I hope it doesn't get worse."

Neither of the two boys responded. They weren't too sure of what to say at this point that would make the situation better.

It seemed Mido realized the stressed silence as well because he ended it by saying, "Did you tell him, Yamamoto?"

Takeshi blinked in confusion. "Tell him what?"

"About Mina-sensei." Mido replied.

Takeshi chuckled and shook his head. "Nope. It totally flew from my mind when Tsuna told me he was going to be homeschooled."

"Homeschooled?" Mido asked surprised. "I thought you transferred schools."

"I was going to, but my brother's tutor said I was too far behind because I kept skipping school or leaving early so he said homeschooling is the best for me at the moment." Tsuna explained. He tilted his head at Takeshi. "And this idiot rashly followed me into homeschooling without even thinking about it."

Takeshi grinned, rubbing the back of his head. "Yep, rashly. Tsuna's brother's tutor is our homeschooling teacher and he is so harsh. I should have listened to Tsuna when he said Reborn-san was a sadistic demon."

"So you two aren't having fun?" Mido asked mockingly.

"Oh no, we're having great fun when the sadistic tutor isn't breathing down our necks." Takeshi replied, grinning.

Tsuna twitched. "Let's get off the subject of Reborn-san. I feel as if he's going to pop in here all of a sudden and punish us for all the negative comments, no matter how true they are."

Takeshi laughed. "He's so paranoid about our tutor."

"I told you!" Tsuna growled, slamming a hand on the table. "You're not paranoid enough!"

Takeshi shook his head. "Why do you constantly think he's just going to appear out of nowhere?"

Tsuna twitched. Of course Takeshi wouldn't understand. He had no idea that their tutor was a hitman and training his brother and Dino-nii to be mafia bosses.

"Is this a recurring argument between you two?" Mido asked with a laugh.

Tsuna shrugged. "Maybe. So what about Mina-sensei?"

"She was fired." Mido replied in a sing-song.

Brown eyes blinked in shock. "What? Really?" He looked at Takeshi, who nodded his head. He knew that it was true because he still attended school for those few days that Tsuna was in the hospital. "Why was she fired?"

Mido smacked his forehead. "Really, Tsuna? You really don't know."

Takeshi smirked. "Don't be too hard on him, Mido. He didn't even understand why his mom was pulling him out of school after he was hospitalized."

Tsuna blushed, but attempted to glare at his friend. "How do you know that?"

"Reborn-san told me!" Takeshi said cheerfully.

"Traitor." Tsuna grumbled under his breathe.

Mido shook his head in disbelief. "Sawada, you are too nice and forgiving. Mina-sensei was fired because she didn't help you. She always saw the blood and injuries, but did nothing."

"Where'd the proof come from?" Tsuna asked.

Mido tilted his head at Takeshi. "Him and me mostly. Didn't anyone come talk to you about it?"

Tsuna shook his head.

"Weird." Mido mumbled.

"I don't think it's weird. After meeting Alaude-san, I can see him keeping the investigation team away from Tsuna." Takeshi said.

Mido looked curious as to who Alaude was, but didn't ask. Instead, he turned back to Tsuna. "Those boys were expelled as well. And our new teacher is really nice and cool. It's too bad you were pulled out. He was appalled when he learned of the reason Mina-sensei was fired. He does not take well to that kind of behavior."

Tsuna sighed. "Too bad. Anything would be better than this sadistic tutor we have."

"Shh, what if Reborn-san is around to hear." Takeshi said mockingly.

Tsuna shot him a glare and shoved him. "Knock it off." He turned to look at Mido. "Thanks for catching me up on the latest. It seems that my best friend is too much of an idiot to do so."

From his position of lying on the floor, Takeshi glared at Tsuna. "Well, how rude."

The three boys talked for a little while longer, only pausing to thank Takeshi's dad who brought them their dinner. After half an hour of talking though, Mido's family was ready to go and he had to leave. He waved to the two boys, saying they would have to get together again some day, and was gone from the restaurant with his family.

"He seems nice." Tsuna commented, going back to his sushi. "How'd you two start talking?"

Takeshi glanced away from the door of the restaurant and back at Tsuna. "I was looking for those boys. I had no idea of where they would be after getting expelled. Seeing as I couldn't find them, I stopped in the park, annoyed. He was practicing by himself at that time and when he saw me, he approached me. He noticed that I was constantly concerned about you as well and that I disappeared after you were taken to the hospital that day at school. He wanted to know if I saw you and if you were fine. From there, it led to both of us wanting revenge."

Exasperated at the idea of revenge, Tsuna shook his head, but didn't comment on it.

"It seems I was hanging with the wrong people of the baseball team." Takeshi said.

Tsuna shrugged. "We all make mistakes."

"I've made too many lately." Takeshi said.

Tsuna rolled his eyes. No matter what he did, he couldn't get rid of the guilt that Takeshi was feeling. "Take–"

BANG!

Both boys whipped around when the door to the restaurant was opened. Standing in the doorway of the restaurant were three men. The one in the lead ran his eyes over the only two people in the restaurant, Takeshi and Tsuna. He was a tall man with long dark brown hair tied in a ponytail and dark blue eyes that glared at everything. Despite it raining outside, he was wearing a muscle shirt. On his right arm was a black tattooed snake that circled itself from the wrist to the elbow. At his side was a sword where his hand rested, as if he was going to pull it out.

The man's eyes landed on the petrified form of Tsuna. "Are you the brother of the Tenth?"

**A/N: Mido Kentaro! Yeah! What do you think of him? Even though, he's not going to be a major, major character. But he will appear again for reasons which you shall not know at this time. **

**Please Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! **

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

**Precious Sky**

**Chapter 8**

The man's eyes landed on the petrified form of Tsuna. "Are you the brother of the Tenth?"

While Tsuna stared in horror at the man, Takeshi was looking back and forth between them in confusion. "Hey Tsuna, what does he mean by the Tenth?" He asked.

Tsuna turned horror stricken eyes to Takeshi. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I dragged you into this."

Takeshi blinked in shock. The desperation and fear in Tsuna's voice didn't belong there. Even when those bullies hurt him, it was never there. He was always strong, even if he didn't fight back. "Tsuna? Tsuna, what's going on?" Takeshi demanded, shooting a glare at the men who caused this fear in his friend. Just what was going on?

"I'm sorry, Takeshi, but please leave. This has nothing to do with you." Tsuna ordered.

The black haired boy's eyes snapped back to his friend. His friend who now sounded so calm and in control of the situation. When he found Tsuna's eyes, he was surprised yet again to see that orange tint in them. That orange tint that was always present when he sounded like this. But this time, instead of listening, Takeshi shook his head and stood up. He moved to stand in front of Tsuna. "I don't know what is going on, but I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, Tsuna. I won't listen to you this time and run."

"How sweet." The man with the snake tattoo sneered. He stepped farther into the restaurant. He drew his sword and pointed it at Takeshi's chest. "Move, boy. As the brat behind you said, this doesn't concern you. This is your only chance to not get killed."

"Move, Takeshi." Tsuna demanded. He couldn't let his friend be killed because of him.

"No." Takeshi snarled. "What do you want with Tsuna?"

The man raised a brow, but smirked. "It's not what I want. It's what my boss wants."

"I won't let you." Takeshi growled.

"That's too bad. You had a long life ahead of you." The leader said. He waved two fingers at Takeshi and the man on his right raised a gun at Takeshi.

Tsuna froze behind Takeshi. He saw the gun raised, but Takeshi stubbornly held his ground in front of him. That idiot! Getting killed to protect him wasn't going to solve anything. It would just be a pointless death!

Without thinking, Tsuna propelled himself up and tackled Takeshi to the ground just as the trigger was pulled. Both boys slammed into the ground with the bullet going over them.

"They're really serious." Takeshi growled from under Tsuna.

Tsuna lifted his head off of Takeshi's back and glared at the men in the restaurant. He got off of Takeshi and stepped over him, getting closer to the men that had barged into the restaurant. "Why is your boss after me?" He demanded.

"That should be fairly obvious, Vongola's brother." The tattooed man sneered. "Now you can either come with us peacefully or we can kill everyone in this shop and drag you away by force. It's your choice."

To Tsuna, it wasn't even a choice. He would never allow anyone else to get involved in his affairs or die for him. He would never put other people's lives at risk because of him. His life was not more important than others just because his brother was the future boss of the biggest mafia out there. "I'll come–"

When Tsuna went to step forward into the arm reach of the smug looking man, a hand snatched his ankle and pulled roughly, causing him to collapse to the ground. Twisting around on the ground, Tsuna found Takeshi was the one holding his ankle and stubbornly refusing to let it go. "Let go." Tsuna hissed, trying to pull his leg free.

Takeshi shook his head, glaring at the annoyed men in the shop. When Tsuna tried to get up, he yanked the boy back to him. He grabbed Tsuna by the arm and pulled him to his feet. Instead of giving Tsuna the chance to get to the men to leave, he dragged the boy to the back of the restaurant.

"Let go, Takeshi. It's just me they want. They'll leave if they have me." Tsuna growled, trying to pull his shirt out of Takeshi's grip.

"Like hell I will. I may be oblivious and not understand this enough, but I do know that those people are dangerous and will hurt you." Takeshi growled.

"And they'll kill you if you don't let me go with them." Tsuna snapped back, glaring at his friend. "I don't want you to die because of me, Takeshi. Please let me go."

"This has gotten annoying, Yuu." The man on the tattooed man's right growled to their leader.

Tsuna blinked. "Yuu? Doesn't that mean gentleness?" He muttered.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Takeshi mumbled dryly to his friend. "I guess it could have to do with superiority, right? I mean, Yuu also means that."

"Kill him." Yuu's voice snarled loudly over the two boys'. "Make sure the Tenth's brother isn't injured."

Wide brown eyes from boys snapped to the three men. Takeshi's shoulders were trembling in fear a bit, but he kept his defiant eyes trained on the three. His hand gripped Tsuna's shirt more tightly. The smaller boy glanced over his shoulder at his best friend, more precisely his shaking shoulders. He tried to act so brave and defiant, but the truth was, Takeshi was still just a scared nine year old boy. They both were.

With that moment of distraction, the man on Yuu's left lunged forward and snatched Tsuna's right arm. Being bigger and stronger, he was easily able to rip Tsuna from Takeshi's grip. A cry of surprise and pain shot from Tsuna's mouth when he was yanked away. Brown eyes snapped to the man in anger and fear for a moment because he suddenly saw the man with the gun raise it at Takeshi.

"NO!" Tsuna yelled loudly, twisting around the man's grip, trying to get free. This couldn't be happening. NO! It just couldn't. Everything was finally getting better.

Wasn't it just a few months ago when he and Takeshi were so confused about what friendship was?

It felt like yesterday when he saw Takeshi standing next to his bed and apologizing about not protecting him. It was a moment of pure bliss when he saw Takeshi had come to see him, to want to fight for his friendship.

All those moments of hanging out together and studying together after that were from of the happiest moments of his life. He finally had a friend that cared about him.

Wasn't it just a few hours ago that he and Takeshi were sitting in here, laughing with their new friend, Kentaro?

All three of them were sitting at a table, talking excitedly about everything. Kentaro had come to him, to make sure he was alright, just like Takeshi. There were finally people outside his family and his brother's friends that cared for him.

The fights.

"_Tsuna? Can I talk to you?"_

_"No. Go home." Tsuna said harshly._

_"What? But Tsuna–" Yamamoto started, but was cut off._

_"I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to be seen with you. I don't want anything to do with you, Yamamoto. Go away and leave me alone forever. I don't need you. I can take care of myself." Tsuna snarled, but with each word he said, his heart clenched and screamed in pain. "You're only good at baseball and nothing else. I don't need someone in my life whose only skills belong to a game." _

The laughs.

_"Oooooh, that's Reborn." Takeshi said. He blinked as he examined the hitman. "He doesn't seem as bad as you make him out to be."_

_"You say that because you don't know him." Tsuna argued. He and Takeshi locked eyes and both laughed, sharing a joke that no one else got._

The tears.

_"What about you? What have you done?" Tsuyoshi prompted._

_Yamamoto glanced up at his dad to show his pain filled and regretful eyes. "Nothing. I've done nothing, dad. The first day, I went to talk to him, but he yelled at me to stay away from him and he wanted nothing to do with me. I listened, but I could never go back to being oblivious to everything that happened to him. Every time it happens, I see it. I see all sneers, jeers, punching, kicking. He takes it all. He never runs. He never fights back. He accepts all the bullying and it kills me that he doesn't want my help. He won't let anyone help him. He doesn't even report it. And today…" He paused to bury his face his hands to hide his sob, but his dad still heard it. "To-today it went too far. T-th-they went to-too far. He….oh god….he's in the hospital now. And I don't know what to do! Help me!"_

The teasing.

_"Why was she fired?"_

_Mido smacked his forehead. "Really, Tsuna? You really don't know."_

_Takeshi smirked. "Don't be too hard on him, Mido. He didn't even understand why his mom was pulling him out of school after he was hospitalized."_

_Tsuna blushed, but attempted to glare at his friend. "How do you know that?"_

_"Reborn-san told me!" Takeshi said cheerfully._

_"Traitor." Tsuna grumbled under his breathe._

He treasured all of it.

Was this where it was going to end…all because of him?

Was he going to get his best friend killed?

Why…..?

"TAKESHI!" Tsuna screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to pull free from his capturer.

Sad eyes stared back at Tsuna. He couldn't believe this was where it was all going to end for him. He finally found the best friend he could ever have. This last few months had been the best time ever. That was all because Tsuna, a complete stranger at the time, saved him from himself.

_"Yamamoto-kun, don't say that. There are people who would miss you if you were gone. Don't give up so easily. I'm sure you can find people who would want to be your friends and not for you skills in a sport. And those friends are the only ones who truly matter. Then there is your dad. He wouldn't want you to kill yourself. You are his son. He loves you a lot."_

_To Tsuna's surprise, Yamamoto started laughing. He was laughing so hard that he fell forward and buried his face in Tsuna's shoulder. His whole body was shaking with his laughter. "O-one person, Tsuna. Name one person who would be my friend if not for popularity or because of my skills in baseball."_

_"Me." Tsuna said quietly without an ounce of hesitation. "I'll be your friend."_

_The upset, crazy laughter stopped and Yamamoto pushed off of Tsuna to stare at him surprised. "What?"_

_Tsuna rolled his eyes, but with a fond smile. "Are you deaf or something? I'll be your friend, though I'm not sure how to be friends since I never had any before."_

"Tsu–" Takeshi started.

BANG!

"TAKESHI!"

***Precious*Sky***

THUD!

"Giotto?" G. asked, staring down at his friend, who had fallen to his knees, hand grabbing his chest where his heart was. His other hand was covering his mouth, shock and fear filling his face.

Nana, who was washing dishing in the kitchen, came rushing to the living room when she heard the noise. The chair Giotto was sitting in was knocked over and his poor eldest looked like they were living in hell. "Giotto?" Nana said, running over to him and dropping down next to him. "Giotto, what is wrong?"

"I don't know." Giotto replied, voice slightly muffled by his hand. "I just got a really horrible feeling."

"What is your Hyper Intuition telling you?" Asari asked worriedly, glancing at the others, who looked worried but also determined to do what needed to be done.

To all their surprise, Giotto shook his head. "It's not my Hyper Intuition this time. I just know it in my heart…something is incredible wrong."

"So what will you do?"

Giotto turned in surprise. Reborn was standing in the doorway, staring at his second student with a frown. His eyes were shining darkly and not with that usual twinkle that was present when he was tort–tutoring his students.

"Reborn?" Giotto hissed. He jumped to his feet, glaring at the hitman. "Tsuna! Where is Tsuna?"

Reborn glanced at Nana, who had gone real pale when she realized just what was wrong. What did Reborn know that the rest of them didn't?

***Precious*Sky***

"Take," Tsuna cried, staring in distress at his friend lying on the ground. His eyes would not move from his best friend's body. How could this happen?

Tsuna continued to fight against the man holding him. He wanted to rush over to his fallen friend.

Though, he felt that something was incredibly wrong with this scene. No matter how much he stared at this scene, he couldn't help but feel that there was something missing.

"Stop struggling, you damn brat." The man holding him snarled, yanking his head back by his hair to get him to stop. It didn't work well for him since Tsuna hated having his movement restricted like this. He didn't care if it would hurt a little; he yanked his hair out of the man's grip, but because of the sudden exert of energy, he lost his bother and fell to his knees.

And that was when he noticed it.

"This damn brat." The man behind him snarled.

There, lying on the ground in front of Takeshi, was a bullet that was sliced in half.

"Can we harm him just a bit?" The man asked gruffly.

So what was missing from this entire seen was blood. Since Takeshi wasn't really injured, there was none. So why was he lying on the hard ground?

Splat! Splat!

That was weird. Why did it sound like water was dropping into a big puddle?

THUD!

From the corner of his eyes, Tsuna notice one of the bodies, mutilated with cuts all of a sudden, drop to the ground. Eyes widening in shock, Tsuna whipped his head around. To his surprise, Takeshi's dad was standing there with a sword, soaked with red blood that went drip, drip, drip as it fell to the ground.

"How dare you come into my home and attacked my son and his friend?" Tsuyoshi asked calmly, though to Tsuna, he swore he saw a very dangerous glint in those usual kind brown eyes. It was just like when Asari got serious about something. And when that happened…..Tsuna had to repress a shudder. Asari was one of the scariest people ever when he was mad.

"Takeshi!" Tsuna shouted, whipping around to look at his fallen friend. He decided it was best to try to ignore the killer intent coming from the kind man. It was making him sick after all.

Tsuna crawled across the ground to get to his fallen friend. He kneeled next to him and looked down at his friend's face. Almost immediately, he face palmed at the happy, dazed look he was wearing. "Takeshi." Tsuna growled and smacked Takeshi's cheeks. "Snap *SMACK* out of it. *SMACK* Do you *SMACK* have any idea *SMACK* of how scared *SMACK* I was?" *SMACK*

With that last slap, a quiet groan of pain come Takeshi. Tsuna nodded in satisfaction, but just for good measure, he smacked his again.

"OI!" Takeshi muttered, holding his red cheeks in his hands. "What was that last one for?"

"For scaring me." Tsuna retorted. "Why so dazed anyway?"

"You'd be too if you were suddenly knocked to the ground by something appearing out of nowhere!" Takeshi retorted. He looked over Tsuna's shoulder to see his dad finishing with the leader of the three men. "Still, I had no idea my old man was so good with a sword. I wonder why he never told me how good he was."

*Sniff.*

"Huh? Ah!" Takeshi grabbed Tsuna's shoulder. "Why are you crying? What's wrong? Did those guys hurt you?"

"I'm sorry, Takeshi! I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!" Tsuna wailed.

"Wha–"

Tsuna ripped himself out of Takeshi grip. With a bowed head, he ran passed Tsuyoshi, who was dragging the bodies across the ground to the kitchen, and to the doorway. Faster than Takeshi could comprehend, Tsuna put his shoes on and ran out of the restaurant, desperately wiping his arm over his eyes to try to get the tears to stop.

When the door slammed shut behind Tsuna, Takeshi just blinked in utter confusion. "Tsuna?"

"You're going to lose him again." Tsuyoshi commented before heading to the kitchen with the bodies.

"Lose?" Takeshi whispered before anger filled up in his eyes. "That idiot! After all those hard months before our friendship finally built into this and now he's running?! I think not!"

Without a word to his father, Takeshi snatched up his shoes and ran out the door. He paused momentarily when he found it raining, wondering if he should get an umbrella. It was only a second of thinking though. An umbrella would just be in his way of beating some sense in that idiot friend of his. Like hell he was escaping after all this!

***Precious*Sky***

*RING*

"Sorry, we're closed." Tsuyoshi said, pausing in cleaning up the broken table that he broke earlier when taking care of those crooks.

"We're not here to eat."

Tsuyoshi took in the leader of the group, noticing that his blond hair was just like that boy's. "Tsuna?"

"Yes! Where is he? I heard he was here." The boy said, then pointed at himself. "I'm Giotto, Tsuna's brother. Is he okay?"

"He just fine, though not here anymore." Tsuyoshi said as he went back to clearing up the mess. "As you can see, we had a slight problem here. Tsuna ran out of here once it got all cleared up."

"What? But it's pouring down rain out! What if he gets hurt? What if more people come?" Giotto said frantically.

"Quiet." Alaude demanded.

"Nufufufu. Always losing your composure when it's your baby brother isn't good for our future boss." Daemon chuckled.

"Don't worry. My son chased after them. It's best to leave them alone for a while. They got some issues to work out." Tsuyoshi said.

"In this weather?" Giotto almost shouted.

Asari glanced out the door that was left open in their haste. "It's not that bad, Giotto." He commented, sweat dropping when he heard Alaude mumbling about an overprotective herbivore.

***Precious*Sky***

"TSUNA! Please stop running!" Takeshi screamed at Tsuna's retreating back. Being an athlete, he had easily caught up to Tsuna's head start, but the boy was still moving fast. "S-since when can you run this fast and for this long!"

What Takeshi didn't know was that Tsuna was pushing himself harder than usual just to get away from the boy. He honestly didn't expect him to chase after him. Last time he just let him go without a fuss.

Frustrated and concerned for his friend, Takeshi slowed his pace. Since he wasn't going in the direction of his home and he knew he couldn't outrun him, Tsuna had to have a destination in mind. The taller boy decided it was best to let Tsuna get there first before talking to him. It would be better to talk in that place anyway. He'd rather not have this conversation in the rain.

***Precious*Sky***

"G., remind me." Giotto said.

G. looked up from the sushi Takeshi's dad made for them while they were waiting for the boys to return. "What is it, Giotto?"

"When this is over, we're putting a damn tracker on him." Giotto muttered.

The red head smacked his forehead. Riiigghht. So his best friend was more overprotective than he initially realized. "We don't have to go that far, Giotto. A cell phone will suffice. It has GPS in it after all." G. amended.

"Uh, Reborn? Don't you think Giotto's overprotectiveness of his little brother might be a bit bad for the Vongola?" Asari asked the hitman quietly.

Reborn tilted his head down so his hat hid his eyes. That Rain guardian didn't need to tell him that. He noticed it from the first day he arrived in Namimori to tutor the boy. His biggest weakness was Tsuna. Actually, all the guardians' biggest weakness was that boy, but they didn't go to the extremes of Giotto and Dino.

***Precious*Sky***

"Really? Really?!" Takeshi grumbled as he followed his friend through the dark and quiet halls of their old school. The only sound, beside their voices, was the sound side of their feet smacking the floor and the water dropping of them to floor. It was a bit creepy. "Of all the places you could have chosen to run to, you choose to come back here!"

"You didn't have to follow me." Tsuna snapped at him. He stopped walking for a moment, glancing over his shoulder at Takeshi. "No. No, you shouldn't have followed me at all. Don't you have any sense of survival at all, idiot?"

"Isn't it obvious I don't after what happened in the shop?" Takeshi asked.

Smacking his face with the palm of his hand, Tsuna gave a quiet groan. Why did he befriend such a reckless idiot? "It's dangerous. I'm sorry, Takeshi. I should have realized it sooner. We sho–"

Before Tsuna could even finish his thought, he saw the silhouette of his friend suddenly moving quickly and before he could even process why for the sudden quickness, his back was slamming into a wall with Takeshi holding his shoulders tightly. "Don't. Don't you even dare to say it." Takeshi growled. Tsuna squirmed in his grip, probably hurting from his grip, but he didn't give it any attention at the moment. He just wanted Tsuna to understand. "I made the mistake of abandoning you once before. I won't not be your friend again just because you say we can't. Never again."

"Idiot." Tsuna snarled, finally managing to push his friend's hands off of him. "Go back. Go back to your father and stay away from me. I won't put you in danger anymore."

For a moment, Takeshi stood in the darkness, watching as his friend walked away passed the windows in the hallway. "You can't make that choice for me." He muttered quietly, though his voice still traveled to Tsuna in the quiet school.

SLAM!

Takeshi blinked in surprise as he watched Tsuna slam his fist on the window.

"IDIOT!" Tsuna shouted, spinning around to glare at him. Strange. Takeshi might only be imagining it, but he swore he saw that strange orange tint in them again. But he has been around Tsuna long enough to know there was nothing orange about those brown eyes. "Do you want to die? You have no idea of what is truly going on and yet you say you want to stay by my side! Can you be even more idiotic?"

"I don't know because you haven't told me." Takeshi argued. "Tell me, Tsuna. What the hell is going on with you and your family?"

**A/N: I'd continue this chapter and make it longer, but I can't think clearly and I don't want you to wait any longer. I don't know when I'll write again. This is friendship and right now, I'm ready to kill friendship. My friends don't understand that I'm hurting because they always leave me out and when I try to explain, they say it's my fault for not speaking up or that they understand. Never once do they say they appreciate my friendship or that they do trust me. So, I'm feeling alone and hurt, and they are not helping at all! So, for now, friendship can go die.**

**I need time to get my head back into the game. Rant- done. **

**Please Review! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! **

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

**Precious Sky**

**Chapter 9**

"Leaving?"

Tsuna nodded his head. He and Takeshi were sitting on the swings at the park, talking quietly to each other so they wouldn't be overheard. "Even though he is only twenty, he's heading over to Italy with his guardians and Reborn now. He won't officially become the leader of Vongola until he is twenty-one. Apparently he is going to do some training under Nono before becoming the official boss." The thirteen year old boy explained.

"So our sadistic teacher is leaving with your brother?" Takeshi asked.

"Yep. It's been declared that we are going back to a regular school for middle school."

"Wow, I never thought this would happen."

Tsuna laughed. "He's only been our teacher for four years, Takeshi."

The baseball player gave his friend a dry look. "He's a demon, Tsuna. Four years with him is like–"

"HA!" Tsuna screamed, pointing an accusing finger at his friend. "You finally admit it!"

Knocking the finger away, Takeshi grinned. "I swear you are getting more and more dramatic as time passes."

Shrugging, Tsuna scratched the back of his head. "I blame Reborn's influence. The demonic hitman can be quite dramatic himself, especially with his disguises and his spying."

"It's amazing that you can always tell when he is in a disguise. I can never figure him out." Takeshi replied, grinning.

"Because you are oblivious." Tsuna retorted as he started to swing a bit.

Laughing, Takeshi ran a hand through his hair. "Still, I was never in a million years expecting you to suddenly announce it was the mafia you were involved in four years ago. You really caught me off guard with that one, Tsuna."

"My ultimate goal in life." Tsuna said sarcastically.

_Four years ago_

_Tsuna shook his head, eyes shut tightly. With his eyes closed, he didn't see Takeshi approach him again so he couldn't escape when the boy grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him into the window, causing Tsuna's eyes to snap open to see Takeshi staring at him determinedly. _

"_I can't tell you." Tsuna whispered, struggling to get the bigger boy off of him. _

"_Why? Why can't you?" Takeshi demanded, nails digging into Tsuna's shoulders. "Is it because of the danger?" _

_Tsuna closed his eyes. _

"_Damn it, Tsuna! Stop it! You aren't a hero so stop trying to protect me like one! We're in this together. That's what it means to be friends!" Takeshi growled. _

_A low chuckle resounded throughout the hall. Takeshi stared in absolute confusion as Tsuna's shoulders started to shake with his chuckles. "You don't get the danger." Tsuna said while still chuckling. "It is so dangerous. You could end up dead because of this." _

"_FINE!" Tsuna yelled, throwing his head back with his chuckles turning into full laughs. "I'll tell you everything I know, and then, maybe then, you'll realize you're being an idiot for saying you want to stay by my side." _

_Takeshi released his friend and stepped back to the opposite wall and slid down to the floor so he could sit and listen to the story. Plus, he wanted to get away from the insane laughter from Tsuna. Just maybe his friend was more freaked about everything that happened today than he let on. He had thought he was pretty calm about it all, but maybe it was all just a ruse to not worry him. _

_Like Takeshi, Tsuna slid to the floor. He took a few deep breathes to get his laughter under control before looking at his friend in complete seriousness. "You want to know? Alright. The mafia." _

"_Mafia….?" Takeshi murmured. Whatever he was expecting, it certainly was not that. Tsuna and his family seemed too nice to be involved in such things. _

_And Tsuna did explain like he said he would. He told Takeshi all about the Vongola Famiglia, the flames, the allies to the Famiglia that he knew about, how his brother was to be the next boss, how his friends were his guardians, how Reborn was a hitman and Dino and Giotto's tutor, and how those people were after him to get to his brother. He left nothing out. He would tell him everything to scare him away so he would no longer associate himself with such a dangerous family…..so was the plan._

_But, Takeshi, once more, surprised him…once he got passed the shock and surprise and was able to speak again of course. _

"_I understand." Takeshi murmured, raising his head to stare stubbornly at his friend. "Your brother is the next boss and because of that, you are in danger so you need your own guardians. I will gladly take up the role of one of your guardians." _

_Blink._

_Blink._

_Blink. _

_That was all Tsuna could do for a minute: blink. Was Takeshi really that damn reckless or was he just stupid?_

"_That is not what I was asking at all!" Tsuna shouted, collapsing onto all fours to stare pitifully at the floor. _

"_I won't run, Tsuna. I'll stay by your side. You'll need someone to help you. You can't do it all by yourself." Takeshi argued, but was smiling reassuringly at his friend. _

Present

"I still think there is something wrong with you or you're just severely reckless." Tsuna muttered.

Rolling his eyes, Takeshi stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned back slightly to stare at the sky. "How is there something wrong with me when all I want to do is help out a friend?"

_Nee futari de chikatta hi no mabushiku hagayui eien hontou wa donna mono yori ibitsu datta koto sou hajime kara kizuite–_

Tsuna pulled his phone out (the one that Giotto forced on him after the events of that night four years ago). It was a blue flip phone with a curved square screen on the front. The screen would light up with his wallpaper if he pushed a button on the side, got a text, or was receiving a phone call. It would also alert him to who the text or call was from if he had the same ringtone for everyone in his contact list.

As it was, he already knew that it was Giotto calling his phone from the ringtone. "What is it, Gio-niichan?" He asked innocently. "Eh? But I thought…Seems crazy. Have fun with that….No, Gio-nii. I am content here. I don't need to be watched over so much…..Well, I know it's dangerous, but no one knows about me, right? Weren't we hidden from the underground world to keep us safe?...Yes, I know people can still find out and come after us, but I'll be fine. You're on speed dial. If anything happens, I'll call you right away so I am fine here."

Next to him, Takeshi had covered his mouth to keep his snickers quiet. Tsuna shot him a glare, but didn't say anything as he had to focus his attention on what his brother was saying.

"Yeah, I'll be right there. See ya soon, Gio-nii." Tsuna replied before quickly hanging up.

Takeshi raised a brow. "Doesn't Reborn get on your case when you talk like that?"

"That's why I hung up before Reborn could get on the phone and reprimand me for using 'ya.'" Tsuna said, waving his phone in the air.

"Huh, and here I thought you hung up to get away from your overprotective brother." Takeshi said sarcastically.

Tsuna scowled. "It's ridiculous!" He shouted, earning a few scared looks from the kids in the park, but he ignored them in favor of standing up and pacing in front of Takeshi.

"And there is the rant." Takeshi said, grinning.

"What do I have to do to prove to him that I can take care of myself and I don't always need him looking over my shoulder? I have come a long way since I was that little boy who got beat up all the time at school! Why does he constantly feel the need to call me whenever I am out and about having fun and have me stalked by his guardians when he thinks something is wrong? I am not a little weak boy who is ignorant to all the dangers in this world!" Tsuna growled to Takeshi, ending with a kick to the metal pole of the swing set, which ended up bending it inward.

Takeshi gave a low whistle of appreciation. "As strong as ever, Tsuna." He said, smirking. "But you must recall that Giotto and his guardians don't know that you've been training or studying up on the mafias around the world. Hell, they don't even know that you learned how to do a bit of hacking to keep up with illegal information. You've kept it all a secret. All you've shown them is that your grades are improving because of Reborn's tutoring lessons and that you have grown out of your clumsiness. Why keep it a secret anyway? Just tell them what you've been doing."

Sighing, Tsuna collapsed back on the swing he was sitting on earlier. "I've told you a hundred times why I can't. Dad and Nono made an agreement that only one of us would be brought into that dark world. The other would stay innocent and out of the mafia world. I can't just go up to my brother and tell him, 'Hey, Gio-nii, I've been learning martial arts and hacking to get information about the mafia for the past few years. Do you think I could be useful to the Vongola Famiglia now?' How do you think my overprotective brother would feel if I just told him that? He would freak out. Even though I would be in a lot of danger if I couldn't fight, he doesn't want me to know how to fight. He just wants me protected. Though Reborn thinks that stupid and he's being naïve when it comes to me."

"You could at least tell Reborn." Takeshi muttered.

Tsuna gave him a dry look. "Then Reborn would get in trouble. He was never supposed to tell me about the mafia, but I asked him to. It would be counted as his fault for everything that I have been doing because he is the one who told me."

"You should have been given a choice."

"I know, right?" Tsuna sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Eh, anyway, something has come up so Giotto and his guardians have to leave today for Italy. It's a good thing the Vongola private jet is already here. And I have to go to the airport to see them off."

"Cool. I'll come with." Takeshi said, jumping up from the swing. He stopped to pick up the blue cloth that was lying on the ground. Wrapped in the cloth that was tied at the bottom and top in black straps was the Shigure Kintoki, a bamboo sword he inherited from his dad. The bamboo cover would disappear to be replaced by a real steel blade when the Shigure Soen Ryu style was being used.

Four years ago, after Takeshi learned about the mafia from Tsuna, he and Tsuna explained everything to his dad. To both of their surprise, Takeshi's dad was actually a part of the underground world at one point. He agreed to train in his son as a swordsman after much pleading and him showing that he was serious about this. Takeshi just wanted to help protect Tsuna. Takeshi's dad was also the one to contact an old friend to come to Japan and help Tsuna learn martial arts as a favor. Of course, this was all done in secret so none of the Vongola knew about it.

"By the way, what middle school are we attending?" Takeshi asked as the boys set off towards the airport.

Tsuna glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "Well," He said slowly. "I may have secretly signed us up for a certain school so the Vongola couldn't get involved with us anymore."

Takeshi smacked his forehead. "Tsuna, I know you want to prove yourself to your brother, but aren't you maybe doing too many secret acts and going behind their backs a bit much?"

"Never." Tsuna snarled. "I'll show him that I don't always need to be babysat."

"Alright, just thought I'd asked." Takeshi said, grinning once more. "Man, it's always fun hanging out with you. I never know what you'll throw at me. So, what is this school we are attending in secret?"

"Namimori Academy." Tsuna said, silently laughing when Takeshi halted in his step. He walked a few more steps before turning around to stare at his frozen friend. "Is it really that shocking?"

"Y-you….." Takeshi pointed a shaky finger at his friend. "You actually got us into that place?!"

Tsuna laughed. "Who do you think I am?"

"I'm not sure if you are manipulative, deceitful, cruel, sadistic, or just becoming evil." Takeshi said with a cheeky grin.

Rolling his eyes, Tsuna spun back around and continued to his destination. "How about none of the above? I'm not Reborn. I'm just improving my intelligence."

"Which will, in the end, help with your manipulation and lying skills." Takeshi pointed out, running to catch up with Tsuna.

"Unbelievable!" Tsuna shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "Do you think I am a bad person?"

"Nooo," Takeshi drawled. "Just a wee bit influenced by that dear sadistic tutor." When Tsuna gave him a half-hearted glare, he chuckled. "I'm just surprised we got accepted to such a prestigious school."

And prestigious it was. Namimori Academy was a giant school that was on an island. Actually, the island only had the school. **[1] **That was what the entire island consisted of. And the only way to get to the island was by a train that connected to the island. Only the students and teachers had a card that allowed them access passed the paying station. Only on special days were guests allowed in. It also consisted of grades K-12. There were three separate buildings for the schools. One was for grades K-4. The second was the junior high building which was grades 5-8. And finally was the senior high school building which was 9-12. **[2]**

Since the school accepted students from all over the world, it was difficult to get into the school and that was why it had dorms. There were six dorm buildings. There were so many because they wanted a building for each section, meaning elementary, junior high, and senior high. Plus, they had to divide the buildings into girls and boys so there were six. Because there were such young kids attending this school, their dorms had two or three dorm heads. The senior high dorms only had one dorm head and dorm president while the junior high one had two dorm heads and a dorm president. The students who lived in Namimori could commute to the school if they so desired or they could move into the dorms. It was totally up to them.

Another system the school had was a spring sport festival, a golden week festival, a parents day, a summer festival right before summer break, and a winter festival right before winter vacation. There were so many activities so the parents could come see their kids often because they were away so long because of going to a boarding school.

Then there was the matter of the student council. Because they were all in one place and all part of the same school, there was only one student council. One student council means one president in charge of all that craziness. And they really mean in charge because the owner of the school said that the kids should be in charge because it would help them in the future. Many thought he was crazy, but the kids liked the idea. Well, most did. Those who became president, not so much. There has never been a president that lasted past one semester term because of everything that goes on in that school. The president could be from junior high or senior high. It depended on who the students thought was reliable. After that, all the heads of clubs reported to him and the president picked who worked directly in the student council for him. Normally it would be voted on, but the Dean of the school thought to let the president pick them so he could pick people he trusted and relied on. There was also one representative from each building section that reported to the president.

Then there were all the uniforms. The basic uniform (black dress pants/skirts, white button up shirt, a black blazer) had a few different aspects to it. Those in the elementary section had to wear yellow ties with a black pin that was a K, 1, 2, 3, or 4 (and A, B, C, or D for class) to show what year they were in. The students from the junior high section wore dark blue ties with white pins that were a 5, 6, 7, or 8 (and A, B, C, or D for class) to show their year. And the senior high students wore black ties with white pins that were a 9, 10, 11, or 12 (and A, B, C, or D for class) to show their year. **[3] **Of course, the student council uniforms were a bit special too. Besides their class pin and tie of their section color, there also wore a red band on one of their sleeves to show they were members of the student council as they got a lot of respect at the school. The president wore a red band too, but he also wore a white cape. **[2]**

Which is why it was such a difficult school to get accepted into. It was not an easy process, and finally getting into it, the students ended up with difficult classes and a lot of physical activities as they also valued health and physical education at the school. And that was why they had such a great cafeteria and great chefs that went to great culinary schools all over the world who could make healthy, but also great tasting food for the kids.

"You better appreciate it. It wasn't easy." Tsuna said, sighing. "It's just a good thing that Reborn pushed us so hard to learn these past four years."

***Precious*Sky***

Tsuna turned his head to Takeshi so his friend would see him rolling his eyes, which caused the slightly taller boy to chuckle. They were at the airport where Tsuna was getting crushed in a hug by his older brother.

"Take care, Tsuna. And remember if you get in any trouble, just call me. I'll help in any way that I can." Giotto whispered to his brother.

"I'll be fine, Gio-niichan. You're the one I should be worried about. After all, you're the crime lord." Tsuna said with an amused smirk. "I'm just the cute, innocent younger brother."

G. snorted with laughter. "You forgot modest, little one."

"What's there to be modest about?" Elena huffed. "He is cute and I constantly tell him that."

"Nufufufu, you're going to give him an ego, Elena." Daemon said, smirking as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. He gave her an affectionate kiss on his cheek.

"I do not have an ego." Tsuna huffed while Takeshi snickered next to him.

"No, you just like to–" Takeshi started until Tsuna kicked him in the side. "Oooow, Tsuna. That hurt."

Giotto raised a brow. "Like to what?" He asked suspiciously.

Giving an innocent grin, Tsuna blinked up at his brother. "Oh, nothing for you to be worried about, Gio-niichan. Takeshi just says weird things at times. He is much too cheerful, just like Asari-nii."

"What's wrong with being happy?" Takeshi asked.

Tsuna raised a brow. "I said too happy. I never said there was something wrong with it. But there has to be times when you aren't happy…..Oh! Like that day we met….almost five years ago, was it? You clearly weren't happy that day."

"Moving on." Takeshi said, turning back to Giotto and his friends. "Have a nice trip."

"Thanks."

"Time to go!" Reborn ordered.

Tsuna and Takeshi waved to the adults as they all boarded the plane until only Reborn was left. He stopped in front of the two and gave them a suspicious look. "Are you two plotting something?"

Tsuna blinked. That was a new one. "What would we plot?" He asked, sharing a confused look with Takeshi.

"Hmm, good point." Reborn said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a black cell phone and handed it to Tsuna. "This is a private cell phone that can't be traced. It will connect you to my personal cell phone. Call in emergencies only, Tsuna. I know that you can't always rely on that idiotic overprotective brother of yours, especially when he is going to be busy being the Vongola Tenth. I am a freelance hitman and can travel when I need too."

Tsuna took the phone with wide eyes. It wasn't the gift that shocked him. Reborn seemed to have grown attached to him in the past few years so this wasn't all that surprising. The surprising part was that he said this all in front of Takeshi. "But Take–"

"I see no reason why Takeshi would carry a sword around with him after that night four years ago unless he knew about the mafia." Reborn said, looking over at Takeshi with a small smile. "Try to make more loyal friends who will protect you, Tsuna. Vongola enemies will come after you too, just for being Giotto's little brother."

Tsuna nodded, gripping the phone tightly.

***Precious*Sky***

"And there they go!" Takeshi said as the plane disappeared into the distance. "How long do you think he knew?"

Tsuna shrugged. "Who knows? I wonder if he knows that I learned how to defend myself. He wasn't really clear on what he knew and didn't know."

"Aw, that's just like him." Takeshi said, folding his heads behind his head.

Tsuna nodded. "Let's get out of here. We have to tell our parents that we're heading to Namimori Academy and staying in the dorms."

"Seriously?" Takeshi said. "I thought since we live here we would just commute."

Tsuna stubbornly shook his head. "That would mean we have to get up extra early in the morning to get there in time and I want to sleep in the mornings."

"Right, right. I forgot that you are a morning hater."

Grinning, Tsuna spun around and ran off to the exit of the airport. Takeshi, smiling as brightly as ever, ran after him. They were just nearing the exit when a boy suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of Tsuna. Neither of them had the time to stop so they rammed right into each other.

"Argh," Tsuna groaned.

"Tsuna! Are you okay?" Takeshi gasped, skidding to a halt next to his friend.

"Been better." Tsuna muttered.

"Damn it, you damn idiot. Watch where the hell you are going." The boy that was in the wreck snarled as he sat up rubbing his head.

Tsuna frowned. "You were at fa–" He started, but froze when he saw the boy in front of him. He had sharp steel green eyes and silver hair that was styled in the same way as another person Tsuna knew. But how was it possible?

"G?"

**A/N: It was my goal to annoy you people by not continuing with the moment from the last chapter! Well, that and I wanted to get a move on with the story so we are going to do this with flashbacks now. And plus, I could probably write a whole story on just the beginning of all this and then go back and include chapters from when Reborn first showed up at the Sawada household and all that. But we are not going into that! **

**[1] I just decided to move the school to an island, which the idea came from K (anime). I love that anime so much! Well, anyway, I moved it there for more fun for me. So, since I moved it, I also tweaked the position of Namimori a bit, it seems. The town is now near a giant lake or there is a lake somewhere in the city. So confusing. Here to make it easier: k-project. /wiki/ Ashinaka_ High _School. If you want to understand about the school and island thing, there is a picture here. **

**[2] I used American grades (K-12) because it is less confusing for me and those kids in the story that come from America. And by cape, I mean that black thing Giotto wears and Tsuna wears when Natsu transforms. Well, it's something like that. **

**[3] This means that their classes are like 2-B. The pins are KB, 1A, 2A, 3C, 5D, etc. so you get the idea of what the pins look like. **

**To save any confusion, Tsuna and Takeshi did not attend this school when they were 9. Also, Giotto and his guardians did not attend here. It is a difficult school to get accepted to and students from all over the world try to apply to it because it is a great school. So the amount of students attending it is high because they come from all over the world, but it is still difficult to get into. **

**Any other confusion about the school, please ask and I will give you the answer in the next chapter so all the readers can get the answer in case they were confused as well. But I hope I explained everything pretty well. **

**Ah, I hate this. I hate having this many notes at the bottom of the story. It gives you false hope when you are the beginning of the chapter that the chapter is super long. **

**Please Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! **

**A/N: I don't know about Enma in this story. I am not good at writing with him or his guardians.**

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

**Precious Sky**

**Chapter 10**

"G?" Tsuna said incredulously.

The boy in front of him momentarily forgot his anger to stare blankly at Tsuna. "G?"

"Oh, sorry, it's just that you look like him." Tsuna muttered, scratching the back of his head.

"You know him?" The boy demanded.

Tsuna nodded, but was frowning at the boy's tone. "He's my brother's friend. How do you know him?"

"That isn't any of your damn business." The boy snapped.

Shrugging, Tsuna stood up. "Then I guess this conversation is over." He replied and motioned for Takeshi to follow him.

They barely got a few steps away when he heard the boy running after them. "Oi, wait. I said wait, damn it."

"I don't like your attitude so I will not wait." Tsuna snapped over his shoulder. Didn't anyone ever teach him manners?

"I challenge you to a duel!"

Tsuna's step faltered for a moment, which caused him to hit the door that was right in front of him. Grumbling, he pushed himself off the door and turned to the boy. "What? A duel? A duel for _what_?"

"You ran into me, I want either an apology or vengeance."

Tsuna smacked his face. Why? Why him? Wasn't he a good boy? What did he do to deserve this? "It takes two to cause an accident so you were at fault too." He snapped to the boy. "Alright, a duel. The loser apologizes! But we will not fight here. Let's go to the forest."

"And I'm the reckless one?" Takeshi said incredulously to himself as he followed Tsuna and the strange boy out of the airport. Who accepts duels with random strangers because they ran into each other? He was blaming Reborn's bad influence for this one.

And that was how he found himself in a taxi with the two on the way to Namimori shrine. At least the strange boy sat in the front and away from Tsuna. Neither of them seemed to be in the mood to wait to get there to fight, which was quite strange for Tsuna. Maybe it was because of the boy's attitude?

Whatever it was, it made the whole ride there extremely uncomfortable and tense. Even the driver could sense it, which was probably why he was speeding a bit. He had never seen a taxi driver so happy about dropping some kids off at shrine before. They barely had time to pay him before he was off speeding down the road.

"So, before we begin," Tsuna said, stretching his arms above his head. They were standing in front of the shrine, well Tsuna and the boy were. Takeshi was sitting on the stairs of the shrine, watching them. "Mind telling me your name?"

"Tch, Gokudera Hayato." The boy growled.

Tsuna nodded and pointed a thumb at himself. "Sawada Tsunayoshi." He pointed a finger at his friend. "Yamamoto Takeshi."

"Whatever."

Tsuna rolled his eyes. How very rude. "Alright, I can see you still have bad manners." He said, cracking his neck as he did. "So let's get started."

With those words, Gokudera suddenly had dynamite in his hands.

"Oh," Tsuna exclaimed, hitting a fist into the palm of his other hand as Gokudera lit his dynamite with his cigarette. He kicked off the ground to jump back to avoid getting killed by dynamite. "I know why the name Hayato is familiar. Smokin' Bomb Hayato."

"Mafia!" Takeshi shouted in shock, jumping to his feet.

"Oh? So you know about that dark world?" Gokudera asked.

'_What the hell is Smokin' Bomb Hayato doing here? Isn't he supposed to be in Italy?...Unless he finally ran from it since no Famiglia would accept his reckless self.' _Tsuna thought, staring curiously at the boy in front of him. Honestly, he was curious about any kid in the mafia that was around his age. He wanted to know why they were involved in the first place so he researched them. Yet, he could find nothing about Gokudera's past. It was like it was a huge secret.

Tsuna jumped back again to avoid the dynamite, but this time, his back met a tree. Thinking that he had him cornered, Gokudera smirked.

But, Tsuna did something unexpected. He ran through all the dynamite on the ground, straight towards Gokudera, who was shocked for a moment before getting over it and pulling more dynamite out.

'_I now understand why he's a Smokin' Bomb, but how can he afford all this dynamite and where does he hide it?' _Was the pointless thought running through Tsuna's mind at the moment.

"Hmm," Takeshi hummed thoughtfully to himself. "I wonder how Giotto would feel if he knew that Tsuna got into a fight with a Mafioso right after he left."

"Triple bomb!" Gokudera shouted.

"Triple? And Tsuna is still charging at him. Both are absolutely insane!" Takeshi mumbled.

Tsuna's eyes narrowed at the sheer amount of bombs in Gokudera's arms. Was the boy that desperate to beat him? Well, he wasn't going to lose that easily.

But just as Tsuna was approaching, Gokudera's grip slip and all the dynamite fell to the ground to surround both of them.

"We'll dead." Gokudera whispered.

'_Like hell!'_

Tsuna sent a flying kick into Gokudera's stomach to send him flying out of the dynamite's range. Before he could land on the ground, Tsuna flipped himself to land on his feet so he could immediately jump away from the dynamite.

BOOM!

The whole area shook violently with smoke and dust kicking up to blind all three boys.

"Are you an idiot?" Tsuna yelled at the top of his lungs, though neither boy could see him. "How reckless can you get? Were you trying to die?"

"You saved me? But why?" Gokudera's voice asked.

"Baka! Baka! Baka!" Tsuna screeched, much to Takeshi's amusement since he couldn't see his friend through the smoke but he could imagine him gripping his hair in frustration. "Don't throw your life away so easily! Lives should be valued. They are precious! There are so many people who die early and don't get to live it fully. You were given a life, value every moment of it and live every day to the fullest. Don't forget about those that care about you. They will be sad if you died!"

Takeshi laughed lightly. Maybe he should recommend to Tsuna that he became a therapist since he was always dealing with messed up people. "Tsuna, I hate to interrupt your counseling session, but that explosion is going to call the authorities here. We need to leave."

"I can't see in this blasted smoke." Tsuna grumbled. "Take-kun, just meet me at my house."

"Roger that, boss!" Takeshi said with a mock salute at the smoke.

In the smoke, Tsuna twitched. Did that idiot friend of his just salute him? He better not have, but that tone suggested otherwise. "Come, Gokudera-kun. We're going to my house."

"I can come with you?...After I almost killed you?" Gokudera asked.

"You are much more meek than before." Tsuna mumbled, scratching the back of his head. Sighing, he grabbed Gokudera's wrist and pulled him to his feet. "We're going for a run."

"Wha–"

Gokudera was cut off at the harsh tug on his wrist when Tsuna started running, quite fast, down the stairs. Without much choice, Gokudera started to pick up his speed to keep up with the boy's pace.

The brown haired boy did not let him slow down once. He was made to run until they got to Tsuna's house.

Breathing heavily, Gokudera pushed his hand hard on his chest, trying to calm his racing heart. "O-okay, s-so *breathe deeply* why co-*breathe*couldn't w-we slow down?"

Blinking, Tsuna turned to the silver haired boy with a mischievous grin, though it was a bit shaky as he was breathing a bit heavily as well. "Well, we have to meet with Takeshi. Wouldn't want to keep him waiting, would we?"

Gokudera shifted a bit shyly on his feet. A blush kept up to his cheeks as he looked away.

Grinning a bit awkwardly, Tsuna scratched the back of his head and looked away too. "Um, Gokudera-kun, maybe we should start over? I think we started off on a bad foot."

"We were both at fault in the airport." Gokudera agreed. He held his hand out. "Gokudera Hayato."

Coughing into his hand, Tsuna turned back to Gokudera with a smile. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, and you, Gokudera-kun, are still an idiot. Don't throw your life around so casually."

"Yes, Sawada-sama!"

Smacking his forehead, Tsuna sighed and turned away from the boy to face his house. "Okay, Gokudera, you don't have to add –sama to my name or call me by my last name. You can just call me Tsuna."

"No. Sawada-sama is Sawada-sama." Gokudera said passionately.

"Tsuna."

"Sawada-sama."

"Tsuna."

"Sawada-sama."

"Tsuna."

"Sawada-sama."

"Tsuna."

"Sawada-sama."

"Tsuna."

"Sawada-sama."

"Tsuna, what are you two doing?" An amused Takeshi asked from the doorway of Tsuna's house, a cookie halfway to his mouth.

Tsuna's eyes narrowed. "You're eating my cookies?"

Laughing, Takeshi threw the cookie in his mouth. "Yep," He said around the mouthful.

"Don't talk with your mouth full. It's disgusting." Gokudera snarled.

Swallowing the cookie, Takeshi grinned. "So, what were you two arguing about?"

"We weren't arguing." Gokudera snapped.

"He won't call me Tsuna." Tsuna said at the same time as him.

"Sawada-sama is Sawada-sama." Gokudera said stubbornly.

"Tsu-na!" Tsuna stretched his name, just as stubbornly as the other boy.

"Why not Tsuna-sama?" Takeshi suggested, chuckling in amusement. "That way you both get what you want."

Gokudera grumbled about taking advice from the annoying cheerful idiot, but consented when he saw Tsuna agreeing and smiling slightly at the suggestion.

"Now, why don't we swap stories?" Tsuna suggested, turning to Gokudera. "Takeshi will tell you about his past. I'll tell you about mine, and you tell us yours, agreed?"

Horror flashed in Gokudera's eyes at the thought of telling Tsuna and Takeshi his past. They had only just met and his past was horrible. Could he really tell these two about that horrible past?

Seeing his distress, Tsuna gave a small, sad smile. "We'll tell you ours first, then you can decide if we are worthy of yours, okay? I won't make you tell, but I think it is best to get it out there so we have no secrets among us since we're going to be friends!"

Takeshi chuckled at Tsuna's abrupt decision. It didn't seem like he was going to give Gokudera a choice, but it probably had something to do with that the boy was curious about mafia children pasts and wanted to learn all about them.

So, they went to Tsuna's room, taking some snacks from Nana on their way, and sat around the table in his room.

Takeshi went first with his story, which started when his mother first died. The he went into how he felt like he was only being used by his friends for his baseballs skills, as if they only liked him because he could play the sport. He felt that if he suddenly started playing bad, they wouldn't like being his friend anymore. It was on the day when he was really considering suicide when he ran into Tsuna and was saved by the boy, though they had many up and downs.

And that was where Tsuna picked up, explaining all about his past of being bullied, becoming friends with Takeshi, then breaking it off so he didn't ruin his life. He went into how the bullying got so horrible, but he just pushed everyone away until it became too much and he ended up in the hospital. Though, he said that he never revealed any weakness to his attackers. That event caused him and Takeshi to become friends again. And that is where they began the story how Tsuna's family is involved with the Vongola.

That really shocked Gokudera. He never expected Tsuna to actually be the younger brother of the upcoming Vongola Tenth. No one even knew he had a younger brother. It shocked him even more to hear about the attack at the sushi shop and how it caused Takeshi and Tsuna to start learning to protect themselves in secret without the Vongola knowing.

"Now," Tsuna leaned forward slightly to look at Gokudera with intense eyes. "I told you everything. I'm trusting you not to inform the Vongola or anyone of what you've heard today."

Gokudera nodded his head, lips formed into a sharp line. He couldn't believe everything that happened to these boys. So, he wasn't the only one with a horrible past. These two boys struggled themselves in their own lives, but they never gave up. They pushed each other along and refused to yield to those who hurt them. Even though they had a rocky start, they gave each other their absolute truth and now watch each other's backs…..Could he have that? Could he have someone that he could finally trust with his life? They told him everything, so did that mean they were telling him that they trusted him to help them?

"What does this mean?" Gokudera asked. "Why are you telling me all this? We don't even know each other."

Tsuna smiled and sat back. "I find kids who grew up in the mafia or with mafia connections interesting. I want to know what it was like for them, see if their past is as dark as mine. I'll tell you my past first because trust is a two way street. If we don't trust each other, who can we trust? It will be a lonely and dangerous life if we don't have people around us who we can trust."

Gokudera's green eyes slid shut as he took a hitching breath that he let out slowly. "I know. I know that oh too well, Tsuna-sama. I am an illegitimate child. My mom fall in love with a mafia boss at one of her concerts. Her name was Lavina. She played the piano, very beautifully too, just as beautifully as she was. But, because they were not married and my dad is a mafia boss, I was locked away in his mansion. My mother could not live there because she was not his wife. They claimed I was the son of his legal wife and I grew up believing that. I could only see my mother as a piano teacher that I only got to see three times a year until she suddenly died one day when I was three. I never got to see her again, never learn piano again from her, never got to know the truth about her. I continued to live though, saddened by her death, but moving on."

"I lived that life until I was eight. When I was eight, I was passing by the lounge when I heard two of the maids talking. It was from them that I learned she was my mother and I was a _bastard child._" He spat angrily, hands clenched tightly. "I couldn't handle the truth, the truth that I grew up a lie so I ran away and was going to prove my worth by joining a respected Famiglia and getting a high position. I found a teacher who taught me how to use dynamite and other explosives as a weapon. I am not some rich, pianist that can't do anything right. I will prove it to all them, my dad, those maids, to all those Famiglias that denied me. I can become something in my life. I am not just a bastard child that they can look down on."

"So you became reckless." Takeshi picked up for Gokudera. He may act a bit naïve, but Tsuna, Reborn, and his dad knocked that out of him because of the dangers of it. "You wanted to prove yourself, prove that you could throw your life away for your Famiglia. You thought you could earn their trust and respect by doing that."

"Which is stupid." Tsuna said in a sing-song. "I wouldn't want disposable pawns. I want someone to help me along and stay by side, a loyal friend who will watch my back as I watch his. I would never ask him to throw his life away. We have our honor and loyalty. Nothing is completed to the best of our abilities if someone dies. You shouldn't be so reckless, Ha-ya-to."

Blushing, Gokudera ducked his head. "Yes, Tsuna-sama. I'll value my life as you said earlier."

Tsuna clapped his hands cheerfully. "Great! Now, we just need to get Hayato enrolled at Namimori Academy with us."

At the name of the academy, Gokudera perked up. "Namimori Academy? No need, Tsuna-sama! I actually came to Japan because I got accepted to attend there starting this year."

Tsuna blinked before grinning. "Perfect! Less work for me."

"You mean blackmailing?" Takeshi asked innocently.

Tsuna waved him off. "Anyway, we have yet to inform our parents of our move, Takeshi."

"Tsuna-sama?" Gokudera interrupted. "You mentioned G. earlier. Where is he?"

"Hmm?" Tsuna said, blinking. "Ah, earlier, it sounded like you knew him."

Hayato shook his head. "Only by name. I didn't say it earlier, but my dad got divorced with his wife shortly after I was born because he wanted to marry my mom, but she always refused for some reason. G. is my half-brother. He moved here after our dad divorced his mom. I don't even remember him since I was a newly born. I just know him from pictures."

Tsuna nodded his head. That seemed like a sad life. He would have hated being separated from his older brother. Life would have been so different without him in his life. And he also knew G. G. would have been a great older brother to Hayato. Maybe if he was around, Hayato would have turned out differently. Maybe G. would have gotten his brother to stay, instead of running.

"I said earlier today that G. was my brother's best friend. What I left out is that he is Gio-nii's storm guardian and right hand man." Tsuna explained.

"I see." Hayato said quietly.

"Grow out of your reckless streak and you'll be great like him one day." Takeshi said cheerfully. "Anyway, I have to head home and get packed to leave apparently." He shot Tsuna a glare. "You could have told me sooner."

"Where's the fun in that?" Tsuna asked innocently.

"It's a good thing Reborn is gone. We don't need him influencing you any more than this." Takeshi said teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah." Tsuna said, grinning as he followed the boy down the hall. "I'm turning out bad and my brother is going to be so shocked he'll die when he finds out the true me."

Takeshi snorted. "We don't need that." He said, voice fading away as he got farther away.

Hayato watched Takeshi leave through the window in Tsuna's room before sitting back down as Tsuna appeared in the doorway and going over to his bed to collapse on it. "By the way, Hayato, where was all your luggage?"

"I sent it over to the dorms a couple days ago so I didn't have to carry it all with me." Hayato replied. He looked at Tsuna with a curious frown before turning away, but not quite fast enough as Tsuna still caught the look.

"What?"

"It's just…." Hayato glanced at the boy again. "What is your plan?"

"Plan? Why does everyone assume I have some evil plan?" Tsuna grumbled.

Hayato shrugged. "You're attending Namimori Academy. It just makes me suspicious. You must know that no mafia Famiglias or any governments can get involved in that place. It has been agreed that Namimori Academy is off limits to everyone, and attacking there, kidnapping students there or that go there, killing them, anything really is like an act of war among groups. None of them can even set foot on the island without a sincere reason that has nothing to do with their job. And just to do that, they have to inform the Student Council President weeks in advance, unless it is an absolute emergency than it could be arranged at last minute. Then the Student Council President has to inform the Dean. There are all these laws. I find it unbelievable that the little brother of Vongola Tenth would attend there."

"They don't know." Tsuna whispered.

Hayato stared wide eyed at Tsuna. The Vongola was the biggest mafia Famiglia out there. No one, _no one_, kept things from them or lied to them. It was an extremely dangerous and stupid thing to do.

"I'm just like you, Hayato." Tsuna said, sitting up as he did so. He ran a hand through his hair, giving a tired sigh. "You want to prove yourself to your dad and all those mafia Famiglias that mocked you. I need to prove myself to my brother and his guardians. I need them to see that I am not some weak little boy that constantly needs protected by them. They need to learn to let go. I secretly applied to Namimori Academy to get away from them so that I can grow and show them what I am. I can't do that with them constantly looking over my shoulder and sending people here to secretly or not secretly protect me. I will prove myself to them."

Of course he understood that. Growing up in the mafia or being associated with it was tough for any kid. They couldn't make any mistakes. They couldn't be weak or dumb. They had to know how to protect themselves and others. If they didn't, they were just an embarrassment and that is all anyone would ever see them as. Even if they changed, it wouldn't be noticed. They would have to prove themselves first. Without proving themselves, their past self would never be forgotten.

And that is exactly what Tsuna and Hayato were aiming for at Namimori Academy.

**A/N: Please Review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn**

**I have a perfectly good reason as to why this update took so long…besides college. I started playing World of Warcraft for a few days before I was in the living room and my brother started playing one of the Tales game. We got into a huge discussion about them and it reminded me of Tales of Vesperia which I played a few years ago but never finished. I decided I wanted to play one again, but, of course, our xbox broke a few years ago so I can't play Tales of Vesperia. How tragic. Anyway, I started playing Tales of the Abyss, which I beat in a week! Would have been sooner, but, you know, college. Anyway, I really like the game and had to play again on a harder level and do all the side quests I missed the first time around. So, yeah. I've lost myself in awesome games. **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! **

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

**Precious Sky**

**Chapter 11**

"You don't have to help, Hayato." Tsuna said as he grabbed the strap of his backpack to shift it on his shoulder since the weight was annoying his side.

Hayato shook his head, eyes shining brightly. "It's alright, Tsuna-sama. I am honored to help you move to the dorms."

From Tsuna's left, Takeshi chuckled at the aghast face that Tsuna was making at the sparkling excitement coming from Hayato. It seemed that Hayato's undying loyalty, even though they've only known each other for three days, was driving him insane. He even heard Tsuna mumbling plans about how to snap Hayato out of it. Attending Namimori Academy with these two would surely be really fun.

"Tsuna, how did your mom feel about the sudden decision to move to the dorms?" Takeshi asked curiously.

Blinking the determination to break Hayato's undying loyalty out of his eyes, Tsuna gave amused eyes to his friend. "Well….."

_Flashback _

_Silence and staring._

_Stare. _

_Stare. _

_Stare. _

_Giggle. _

_At the sound of a giggle, Tsuna blinked and looked at his mother standing in the doorway of the kitchen. _

"_Tsu-kun, why are you lying on my kitchen floor with such a serious expression?" Nana asked, smiling at her son. _

"_Well, you see, I was looking for you, but," Tsuna sat up abruptly and gave a dramatic wave of his arm. "You were nowhere to be found! I was all alone in this big house. How so very sad!" _

"_Should I cut back on the amount of movies I let you watch?" Nana asked as she deposited her grocery bags on the table. _

_Blinking, Tsuna walked over to the table on his knees. He leaned on one of the chair seats and stared up at his mother. "Mama, the movies are convincing me of nothing. Don't do that to me! How am I to survive without my movies?!"_

"_Hmm, I wonder, do you desire to be an actor or singer?" Nana mused, ignoring her son. "Are those movies just inspiring you more? Why didn't you say so, Tsu-kun? We could have looked for roles that you could have auditioned for?"_

_Tsuna dropped his head to the chair seat. He was being ignored. "No, mom. I don't have any desire to be famous. I just find it amusing to be dramatic and IT IS NOT THE MOVIES!" _

"_Hmm, if you say so." Nana replied as she began to unpack her bags. _

_Sighing, Tsuna stood up and began to take the items she put on the table to put them away. "Well, I have something I need to talk with you about, Mom. It's about my schooling now that Reborn is gone." _

"_Reborn and I decided for you to attend Giotto's old mi–"Nana started, but was, unusually, cut off by her son. _

"_No can do, mom. That is the branch school of the elementary school I went to five years ago. I am not going back there." Tsuna said casually, as if it was unimportant, as he finished putting everything into the cabinets. "Besides, Takeshi, Hayato, and I have already chosen and been accepted to our middle school."_

"_Oh? And which school is it that you are all attending?" _

"_Namimori Academy as dorm students." Tsuna commented, depositing the food he was carrying into the fridge. When there was no reply from his mother, he looked over his shoulder to stare at her. He raised a brow when he saw her just staring at him in shock. "Something wrong?"_

"_W-why that school?"_

_Brows furrowing in confusion at the tone of his mother, Tsuna stood up straight, closed the fridge and turned to her. Shouldn't she be proud that he actually got accepted there?...even if he did had to do a bit of blackmailing to get in?_

"_Tsuna, that school….protection can't get to you there." Nana whispered. _

'_Protection?' Tsuna thought, staring wide eyed at his mom. "No." He whispered. It wasn't possible. "You can't know." _

"_That your brother is the Tenth boss of Vongola and that Reborn is a hitman that was tutoring him." Nana finished for him, giving a sad smile. "I know it all, Tsu-kun. I never told you this because I wanted to keep at least one of my sons from that world when I knew it wasn't possible to keep one from becoming the Vongola Tenth." _

"_I don't understand! Why do you know?" Tsuna shouted, voice raised from the shock. _

_Nana turned her back to her shocked son to fold the bags to put them away. "Truthfully, I was a part of that world at one point, but left when I married your dad." _

"_H-huh?"_

"_Yes. I was called the Illusive Maiden." Nana continued, collapsing into a chair at the table. She motioned to the seat next to her. It took a few minutes for Tsuna to join her because he was so shocked that he couldn't move for a while. When he was sitting, she continued. "I was a computer expert and hacker for an ally Famiglia to the Vongola. It was actually the Famiglia that Dino is the boss of, Chiavarone Famiglia. There were even times that I went out in the field to do what needed to be done." _

"_Wh-what?" Tsuna stuttered, shock still running its course through his body. "Y-you ki-killed?"_

"_Oh, heavens no." Nana replied assuredly, gently rubbing her son's cheek to calm him. "I was called the Illusive Maiden because of my skill with illusions." _

"_Illusions?" Tsuna asked curiously. "So does that make you a Mist Flame user?" _

_Nana nodded with a smile. "Do you really have to attend Namimori Academy?" _

"_Yes." Tsuna said. "I need to escape my brother and Vongola. I need them to see that I no longer need to be protected so much. Nii-chan is too overly-protective." _

_End Flashback_

"The Illusive Maiden is your mother?" Hayato said shocked, but also with a lot of admiration.

Tsuna wanted to smack his forehead. Why was there so much admiration in this boy?

"You know the Illusive Maiden, Hayato-kun? Is she that famous?" Takeshi asked curiously.

"F-f-famous?" Hayato spluttered. "Of course she is! She first appeared when she was fifteen as a freelance hacker and Illusionist that attacked the really horrible Famiglias that were involved in illegal experiments, child trafficking, selling of drugs, and all the other horrible stuff you don't see with the Vongola Famiglia. Three years after she appeared, one of her jobs became too much for her and she almost died. That is when the Chiavarone Famiglia appeared and saved her."

"Is that when she joined them?"

Hayato nodded. "Yes, but only for a few years as she married and wanted to escape the life when she found out she was pregnant. No one knows where she disappeared to."

"Until now." Takeshi said.

The silver haired boy nodded. "Yes, until now."

Takeshi gave a low whistle. "Wow. That is ama–" He paused when he saw Tsuna's face. It was enveloped with a dark look that he tried to hide by bowing his head. "Tsuna? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"From my experience in the dark world, people don't normally house dark looks like that unless something is wrong." Hayato pointed out. He didn't want to push the person he admired, but, at the same time, he knew it was not safe to leave dark matters alone and untouched. They can warp into something much worse or the person thinking such dark matters might change the situation into something a lot worse than it is.

Tsuna scowled. Now, of all times, Hayato decided to drop the admiring mode of Tsuna always being right and guarding him from intrusive questions. "It's just my family."

"What about it?" Takeshi asked confused, scratching the back of his head. "I thought you were happy with them?"

"It's not that." Tsuna sighed. He came to a stop in front of the bus stop. "It's just, I was left out. Everyone knew about our family being involved in the underground world, but me. They all left me in the dark. Did they think I wasn't trustworthy or strong enough to tell?"

"Tsuna!" Takeshi said exasperated, shaking his head. "My dad kept me in the dark about his being involved in the mafia. I never knew he was an assassin before, and that's because he didn't tell me because he wanted to keep me safe and ignorant of the danger in this world. They did it because they love you."

Tsuna didn't reply right away as the bus finally arrived. He and his friends got on it, stopping to show their bus passes or pay to ride the bus. Afterward, they went to the back of the bus where they could have more privacy.

"I guess." He mumbled when he was sitting.

Takeshi scratched furiously at his head in frustration. "You really need to get rid of those pessimistic thoughts. You are good when it comes to others' problems, but when it is your own, you are as blind as a bat."

"Oh, geez. Thanks Takeshi." Tsuna mumbled.

"Well, since you can't do it for yourself, I think it is best that I point out the cold hard truth." Takeshi said with a smile.

"Then why are you smiling while you say it, you damn sword freak?" Hayato grumbled.

"Maa, Maa, Hayato-chan. There is no need for the attitude." Takeshi replied.

Hayato sent a furious glare at the taller boy. "Don't call me Hayato-chan, idiot."

"Hayato, Takeshi." Tsuna said in a warning tone, shooting both boys a look. "Hayato, don't call Takeshi names. Takeshi, don't purposefully provoke Hayato."

"Sorry, Tsuna-sama." Hayato said, bowing his head.

Still grinning, Takeshi mumbled his own apology.

Tsuna raised a brow. "What are you apologizing to me? You are meant to be apologizing to each other."

"I would never apo–"

At Tsuna's disapproving look, Hayato shut up. His cheeks filled up with a bit of pink as he glanced at Takeshi. "Sorry, Takeshi-kun." He mumbled quietly.

"I'm sorry as well, Hayato-kun." Takeshi replied, though he was less embarrassed about it.

"What a troublesome pair." Tsuna mumbled to himself in amusement as he turned to look out the window in time to see the sea coming up on his right. They were driving alongside a beach where quite a few people were spending the last day of their vacation enjoying the day with beach games and making sand castles, though none were swimming as it wasn't quite warm enough for that.

"Is that the school?" Takeshi asked, leaning into Tsuna to look out the window. Coming up on the right a bit of ways off in the sea was an island with train tracks about a hundred and fifty feet above the water. "It's a pretty small island."

Behind the swordsman, Hayato smacked his forehead. "Of course it is small! It's quite a ways away from the coast. If it was close, there would be no point in having all these regulations about the school because than anyone could get there."

"Well to be fair, planes, helicopters, or boats could get to the island, but that would be breaking all the codes and cause some trouble among people." Tsuna argued.

"No one would be insane enough to do that though." Hayato retorted.

Takeshi chuckled. "I wouldn't be too sure about that."

Hayato raised a brow. "And why is that?"

"Giotto is a bit overprotective of Tsuna." Takeshi said with a grin, causing Tsuna to groan.

"Please don't remind me, Take-kun." The shortest boy of the three mumbled. He reached up to push the button that would single the driver to stop.

As the three boys disembarked from the bus, they found themselves staring in amazement in front of them was a grand train station that was two floors high. The moment they entered they found themselves in a magnificent hall with a tiled floor that shined so brightly their reflections could be seen clearly. In front of them were stairs that led to the only train in the station. Past these stairs and on the right and left were staircases that led to the second floor. None of them knew what was up there, but it didn't matter. Their only concern was getting to the school. Not that many students were around as they were mostly all already at the school getting ready for tomorrow.

Above their heads was a high ceiling that held skylights here and there. Though there were also chandeliers here and there on the high ceiling. Probably for those cloudy days or at night time. There were adults standing around in black suits with weapons at their sides. The only reason students weren't freaking out were because they were all wearing red armbands that said Namimori. They must be the guards of the station so no one who wasn't allowed got in. Standing before the train were a few gates lined up. The gates consisted of two rectangular walls with two flappy doors that swung open when a pass was scanned to allow entrance. Four allowed passage to the train and four allowed passage to leave. The ones that allowed passage gave a glowing green arrow on both parts of the gate, while the ones that were the exits had a glowing red 'X.' The rest of the area was filled with walls that went from the floor to the top of the gates. The guards were on duty to stop people from jumping.

"Amazing!" Takeshi said.

"Makes you wonder what the school is like." Tsuna said, chuckling. "Come on, let's go. The next train leaves in five minutes."

The three boys used their temporary passes they received in the mail to get passed the gates.

It wasn't long for the train to leave. The boys looked out the window to watch as the sea flew by. Tsuna leaned against the wall, watching all the people at the beach become smaller and smaller, and couldn't help but wonder, what were they thinking as they watched this train head to the school? Him, when he came to the beach as a kid, always watched in wonder when he saw this train heading to the school. Living here in Namimori, he knew all about this school and thought it was amazing when he saw this train. Who were the students going to this school? How did they get in? Where did they come from in the world? He couldn't help but wonder those things when he saw this train. What do those people think when they see the train?

In a few minutes the train arrived at the train station on the island. They exited the train with the other students to enter a similar station that they were just in. The only difference was that there were more people around in this station. And it wasn't just guards, though they were a smaller amount of guards here since they didn't expect anyone to get past the first station. It was mostly students in the station. Some were helping new students, while others seemed to be old students coming back for a new year.

"Any idea of where we should go?" Tsuna asked his companions.

"Not in the slightest." Hayato replied.

"I would suggest walking around until we found where we want to go, but…considering the size of this island…" Takeshi trailed off.

"Yes, that might not be the best idea." A voice behind the three boys said in amusement.

All three turned to see a boy wearing a uniform for year one of middle school if the dark blue tie and white pin that said 1B were anything to go by. The boy was about Hayato's height with messy black hair and familiar blue eyes that were sparkling in excitement. On his shoulder was a strap that went to a bag similar to what Takeshi carried his sword in.

Tsuna blinked. "Mido Kentaro?" He asked shocked.

"Yo, Sawada, Yamamoto." He greeted with a grin. "It's been a while."

"A while?" Takeshi laughed. "I haven't seen you since that night in the sushi bar!"

Kentaro shrugged. "Been busy with studying and practice." He said before the grin slipped from his face. "I heard what happened that night in the sushi bar. That some crazy shit. Why would the Yakuza attack your dad's shop?" He shook his head. "This is such a strange world we live in."

Tsuna looked away, anger flashing in his eyes. He was still mad about that night four years ago. That was all his fault. He put his friend in danger because of his family ties.

A hand planted firmly on his shoulder knocked Tsuna from his thoughts. He turned his head to see Takeshi grinning at him to reassure him that everything was fine before the taller boy turned to the other boy. "So you're attending here? Since when?"

"I got a scholarship last year." Kentaro replied.

"Scholarship? For baseball?" Tsuna asked.

Kentaro shook his head. "I gave that up for kendo. Hearing about that attack on your shop made me realize how dangerous this world is. I need to protect my little brother so I took up kendo."

"Oh! How is your little brother? Doing better, I hope?" Tsuna asked, frowning in worry.

His question caused a dark look to pass over Kentaro's face. "If only. We don't have the money to get his treatment so he's just been getting worse. He is living in a hospital at the moment because of it. We can barely afford that."

"I'm sorry." Tsuna said, but wished he could say more. But, what could he say to that?

Kentaro just shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Sawada. Here, since I know this place why don't I show you to the dorm?" Without bothering to get any form of agreement from the two, he turned to the third boy in the group. "I'm Mido Kentaro, an acquaintance of theirs. And you are?"

"Gokudera Hayato." The silver haired boy answered.

"Nice to meet ya." Mido replied before turning back to Tsuna. "So, let's go."

Since he was the only one to know where the hell they were, Mido took the lead, weaving through the crowd with the other three struggling to keep up with getting around the people while not hitting them with their bags.

By the time they were outside, the boys were a bit dazed. That sure was a crazy experience. "Is it always that hectic in there?" Tsuna asked.

"That wasn't hectic, Sawada." Mido replied with a laugh. "You guys are arriving a bit late so you haven't seen hectic train stations just yet."

"Ah, great." Hayato grumbled in annoyance. He wasn't a fan of crowded places. He found from the underground world that they could be dangerous places when the people one is dealing with doesn't care about hurting innocents and those crowded areas could also be a great smokescreen. So, yes, he found them very dangerous and liked to avoid them.

"Wow."

At that one word from Tsuna, his friends looked at him to see him staring ahead. Curious, they looked ahead to, only to have their mouths drop in amazement. In front of them was a hill that seemed to go all around the island, but that wasn't the amazing part. The amazing part was the stairs. These two staircases went to the top, but crossed over each other part of the way to top two times. In between the stairs though was what was amazing. Between the staircases was like a waterfall, but it was made like staircases that stopped to make a small platform before continuing. Water poured down from these wooden stairs. At the very top was of the water fall was a stone lion that reminded Tsuna of a guardian that was watching over the area. The water poured out of the hill on either side of the lion.

"Amazing right?" Mido asked, grinning. "And this isn't even half of it."

"How much cooler can it get?" Takeshi asked.

"Why don't we climb the stairs to find out?" Mido asked, but was already heading up the stairs before he paused and went back down to Takeshi. "Here, let me help with your bags."

"Thanks." Takeshi said, handing some over.

Once the boys reached the top of the stairs, they were once again shocked by what was in front of them. In front of them was a stone path that led straight ahead, to the left, and to the right. These stone paths had hedges on either side of them with flowers sprouting from them. If one went straight ahead they would find themselves in a rest spot that was in the shape of a circle with a few benches around it. In this area was a magnificent stone fountain that was four circles high. If one was to follow any of these paths they would veer off at some point and lead one to many different locations. A few trees were here and there among the hedges and flowers.

"Okay, you see that building in the distance straight ahead?" Mido asked, and when he got three nods, he continued. "That is the high school building. The elementary and junior high are connected to it. The junior high is on the right, while the elementary is on the left. Behind the schools is a track field, a baseball field, a soccer field, and another building which has a few floors. This building consists of the swimming pool on the first floor along with a gym where high school and junior high students meet for gym. The second floor consists of weight equipment for those who wish to train, along with the rooms for the boxing club, kendo club, and other sports clubs. There is a cafeteria in each school section for lunch, but you don't have to eat in there if you don't want. Breakfast and dinner will be held in the cafeteria of your dorm. The girl dorms will be found in the forest on the left while the boy dorms are found if you turn right here. Of course, you have to find the entrance to the forest first then follow the path."

"Forest?" Tsuna asked confused.

Mido nodded. "The dorms are in the forest on either side of the island so the boys and girls can't get together. In fact, only the teachers and student council know where the entrance to the girl dorms and boy dorms are. If you are a guy, you are not allowed to know where the entrance to the path to the forest for the girl dorms is. And vice versa."

"What about the teachers?" Hayato asked.

"For the adults who aren't helping in the dorms, there is a dorm building near the boy dorms for the males and a building near the girl dorms for the females just in case something happens. There is a doctor in each dorm and a few in the school for any emergencies. Along with a highly equipped doctor's office since it is likely it will take a long time for any paramedics to get here and past all the security." Mido explained as Takeshi let out a low whistle.

"They seemed well prepared." He said.

"Yes, and for anything." Mido said, grinning. "There is another building in front of the junior high building that is a little to the right of it. It's a ballroom. It's for any parties or events that we are hosting."

Tsuna laughed. Oh, he was so glad he was just a regular student attending here. If he was the president of the student council, he would go absolutely insane with all that workload and keeping track of anything. Poor sucker.

"I can see now why a president hasn't lasted pass a single term." Takeshi laughed.

"It's lucky for them that a term is only half a year." Mido said, grinning mischievously. "You should have seen our last president. He was crying tears of joy by the time the semester ended."

Tsuna winced. Oh, it must be a lot worse than he ever thought. If only he didn't need to escape Vongola, he would have never come here….which reminds him. Should he inform his brother where he was attending now that he was safely on the island?...hmm, no. It was still too soon to inform him.

"Well, I can't think of any more to tell you so let's head to the dorms." Mido cheered while the three boys behind him sweat dropped or peered around anxiously. Just what did they drag themselves into?

**A/N: So, not much happened in this chapter….well, at least, I introduced you to the school! That's a start…**

**Question: For Lambo, do you want him to be five or a little bit older? He will be younger than Tsuna and the others by a few years if the latter is chosen. Just need to know. Either way, I am going to get rid of some of his really immature antics. Though, since he is going to still be a kid, I can't get rid of them all.**

**Please Review!**


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